COVID infection is more severe in older people, with increased vulnerability to illness and death. Age has been shown to be an independent risk factor for adverse outcomes post-infection and can result in accelerated deterioration of physical and cognitive function, especially in the presence of dementia or Parkinson’s disease.

The Physiotherapy Research Foundation (PRF) has highlighted key messages from the 5 facts article featured in the March edition of InMotion and produced this infographic.

Click on the image below to access a printable A3 file.

About the authors.

Caitlin McDonald APAM is the current Chair of the APA WA Gerontology Physiotherapy committee and the Vice Chair of the national APA Gerontology committee. Her main areas of clinical interest include falls prevention, reablement, Parkinson’s Disease and vestibular rehabilitation. 

Joanna-Lee Tan APAM MACP is a titled Gerontological Physiotherapist and is the chair of the APA National Gerontology group. Joanna-lee has worked as a Physiotherapist across a range of settings from her own private practice based in Adelaide to hospitals, home care, disability services, community and residential aged care.

Shiva Gopalan APAM is a physiotherapist with 10 years of experience specialising in aged care. Shiva is the manager of the wellness and lifestyle services for a regional aged care provider. He has a real interest in enabling individuals living with a dementia from culturally and linguistically diverse communities to fully participate in the communities they live.

Hannah Sharma APAM has been working as a physiotherapist in sub-acute inpatient public health settings for over 14 years. Recently, Hannah completed her Masters in Clinical Education at the University of Melbourne. She is involved in sessional tutoring within the Gerontology modules at The University of Melbourne and Swinburne University. Hannah is an assessor for the Australian Physiotherapy council. Her current research project is exploring experiences and perceptions of gerontological physiotherapy clinical supervisors of teaching clinical reasoning.

This infographic is a Physiotherapy Research Foundation (PRF) initiative supported by FlexEze – partner of the PRF.