ABU DHABI: The Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha) attaches great importance to senior citizens and is keen to provide them with high quality health care according to the highest international standards.
In a statement, Dr. Marwan Al Kaabi, Group Chief Operations Officer at Seha, said that the company is making every possible effort to devote special attention to senior citizens.
He added that Seha — in coordination with the Department of Health — Abu Dhabi (DoH) and the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre (ADPHC) — provided many health services to senior citizens to ensure their safety during the exceptional circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the most prominent of these services are mobile clinics to provide medical care, diagnostic and treatment services for senior citizens and those with chronic diseases, as well as specialised psychiatric clinics.
Follow up
He explained that mechanisms have been put in place to follow up on the health status of senior citizens and to identify the problems they may be exposed to by directly contacting them or their families in the presence of doctors around the clock in case of emergency.
Dr. Medhat Al Sabahi, Consultant Psychiatrist and Head of the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Unit at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, one of Seha’s facilities, told WAM that the coronavirus does not distinguish between age, gender or class, and that any person may be exposed to infection in various degrees but older people are at highest risk from COVID-19 as the infection itself make them more likely to suffer severely from COVID-19 disease with more serious complications.
Mental health
Al Sabahi pointed out that the elderly group is more likely to have mental disorders, at a rate of about 20 per cent than the rest of age groups, according to the data of the World Health Organisation, and that the most prevalent disorders among the elderly are depression, weak cognitive abilities (Alzheimer's) and anxiety, and this percentage increases in times of crises and the spread of epidemics.
Seha provides a package of diverse and integrated services with regard to home care for senior citizens who do not wish to attend health centres and hospitals.
