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Authors:
Annie Lu Nguyen, MPH, PhD 
Robert J. McDermott, PhD
Objective:
In this paper, we argue that COVID-19 has demonstrated the seriousness of longstanding neglect of public education infrastructure, particularly where school health education and school-based health services are concerned, as well as having accentuated long-standing vulnerabilities among older adults.
Methods:
We examined practices about the divide between evidence-based recommendations of experts and system responses that leave a sizeable number of Americans vulnerable to the worst aspects of COVID-19.
Results:
We identify practices in schools, as well as institutions that respond to the needs of older Americans that increase general risk across generations from the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. We also caution against making unwarranted assumptions or generalizations about older adults in and out of care settings.
Conclusion:
Authorities need to learn lessons from the present pandemic to avoid similar types of vulnerability in future public health emergencies.
Source: Health Behavior and Policy Review, Volume 7, Number 2, March 2020, pp. 154-160(7)
Publisher: Paris Scholar Publishing Ltd.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14485/HBPR.7.2.8