TY - JOUR
T1 - Disaster risk and elderly in the Asia-Pacific region
AU - Wong, Ho Ting
AU - Chau, Cheuk Wing
AU - Guo, Yingqi
AU - Chiou, Sonia Ming Jiu
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2019/12
Y1 - 2019/12
N2 - The issue of an aging population has long been considered a critical problem for many countries because the elderly are generally considered one of the most vulnerable groups in society and are especially at risk during a disaster. Unfortunately, there are different aspects closely related to this issue that are being neglected. In this review study, the Disaster Risk and Age Index, which was developed by HelpAge International based on the framework of the well-developed INFORM Disaster Risk Index, was used to summarize the situation regarding disasters for the 39 countries in Asia-Pacific region, with a focus on the elderly. The index dimensional and categorical scoring and ranking of the Asia-Pacific countries were compared and analyzed. The heterogeneous distribution of the index's dimension and category scores revealed the strengths and weaknesses of different countries and the areas that could be improved. The result showed that for a country to have a high overall index ranking, it is not necessary to have outstanding scores in all three index dimensions. Moreover, it is also interesting to note that the high overall index ranking countries are not necessarily well-developed countries; small island states can also have a high overall index ranking. All of these findings demonstrate that even small and less developed countries can have a high overall index ranking if focus policies are formulated based on weak but improvable areas.
AB - The issue of an aging population has long been considered a critical problem for many countries because the elderly are generally considered one of the most vulnerable groups in society and are especially at risk during a disaster. Unfortunately, there are different aspects closely related to this issue that are being neglected. In this review study, the Disaster Risk and Age Index, which was developed by HelpAge International based on the framework of the well-developed INFORM Disaster Risk Index, was used to summarize the situation regarding disasters for the 39 countries in Asia-Pacific region, with a focus on the elderly. The index dimensional and categorical scoring and ranking of the Asia-Pacific countries were compared and analyzed. The heterogeneous distribution of the index's dimension and category scores revealed the strengths and weaknesses of different countries and the areas that could be improved. The result showed that for a country to have a high overall index ranking, it is not necessary to have outstanding scores in all three index dimensions. Moreover, it is also interesting to note that the high overall index ranking countries are not necessarily well-developed countries; small island states can also have a high overall index ranking. All of these findings demonstrate that even small and less developed countries can have a high overall index ranking if focus policies are formulated based on weak but improvable areas.
KW - Aging population
KW - Asia-Pacific
KW - Disaster risk
KW - Disaster risk and age index
KW - Disaster risk reduction
KW - Elderly
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071642549&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85071642549&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101278
DO - 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101278
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85071642549
SN - 2212-4209
VL - 41
JO - International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
JF - International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
M1 - 101278
ER -