A/HRC/42/43 level, income, health status, or access to justice – that accumulate during a lifetime. When older persons do not enjoy their rights fully in regular times, their vulnerability to situations of emergency is likely to increase. 26. Physical challenges that come with ageing but that normally do not necessarily decrease the quality of life or significantly decrease the capacity for daily functioning of an older person may become serious impediments in an emergency. Minor events, such as losing a pair of eyeglasses or a walking cane, may in an emergency setting have a significant impact on older persons, because they limit their mobility and their capacity to adapt to changing conditions, such as during an evacuation. 27. Likewise, sensory deficits, such as impaired vision or hearing, or cognitive/neurological conditions may make it more difficult for certain older persons to understand emergency warnings and directions. 4 Mental conditions may also cause older persons to experience hardships during emergencies, including in shelters where crowding, lack of privacy or noise levels may negatively affect their autonomy and independence. 5 28. The safety of older persons in emergency situations depends on factors other than just health services; economic or social marginalization, the need for protection from abuse and exploitation, social welfare and intergenerational support are all factors that have an impact on the well-being of older persons and their ability to enjoy their human rights fully, including in emergencies.6 29. The vulnerability of older persons may also be social. Social connectedness in an emergency situation helps to protect the health and well-being of an older person by providing emotional and practical, informational and appraisal support, the latter referring information that helps older persons to appraise the situation. 7 On the other hand, older persons may be at a higher risk of having reduced social support and connectedness because of factors such as age, illness or death of friends. 30. Social inequality and lower socioeconomic status of older persons may be the result of lower income security, which may directly influence material or practical resources at their disposal in an emergency situation, such as means of transport, communication technology or accommodation outside the area affected by the emergency. Social inequality may also be related to geographic location. Living in a flood-prone area, for instance, is likely to increase the vulnerability of older persons.8 31. Older persons often remain in their places of origin even when their family and community evacuate either because they retain a strong sense of attachment to the property or because they have been left behind by their relatives to look after the property. As a result, they may be more exposed to hazards and risks, and have more difficult access to relief goods and services that are provided in safer zones. 32. As families are separated and community structures break down during displacement, older persons may become isolated or be required to take on new roles as heads of household, to care children or other dependent family members. Mobility difficulties, poor health, disability or caregiving responsibilities for family members pose challenges to many older persons in gaining access to humanitarian assistance, such as food and core relief item distributions, water or fuel. Older persons also face a greater risk of 4 5 6 7 8 David Hutton, Older people in emergencies: considerations for action and policy development, World Health Organization (WHO), 2008. Bruce H. Young, Julian D. Ford and Josef I. Ruzek, Disaster Mental Health Services: A Guidebook for Clinicians and Administrators (Washington, D.C., United States. Department of Veterans Affairs, 1998);William Oriol, Psychosocial Issues for Older Adults in Disasters (Washington, D.C., United States Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, 1999). Hutton, Older people in emergencies. Wolfgang Stroebe, Social Psychology and Health (Buckingham, Open University Press, 2000). Susan L. Cutter, Brian J. Boruff and W. Lynn Shirley, “Social vulnerability to environmental hazards”, Social Science Quarterly, (2003). 84, 242–261 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/15406237.8402002. 7