Winter is becoming increasingly perilous for elderly individuals as the days grow shorter and the temperatures drop below freezing. While most of us are able to put on our huge coats, scarves, and gloves and look forward to Christmas, the extreme weather conditions pose a number of concerns to the elderly.

Are governments doing enough to tackle winter deaths among older people?

In the words of Dot Gibson, general secretary of advocacy organization National Pensioners Convention, ″Successive administrations have simply neglected the problem of winter fatalities among the older population and appear to have a strategy of crossing their fingers and hoping things would change″ (NPC).

Why do people die of cold weather?

Physical and mental health are harmed by inequality levels, access to hospitals and social services, loneliness, and poverty, all of which affect physical and mental health and increase people’s risk of dying during the winter months.

Are winter deaths on the rise?

Extra winter fatalities are also on the rise, as evidenced by the fact that, despite the mild winter of 2017, an estimated 43,900 extra winter deaths occurred, a 140 percent increase over the previous year and the worst data recorded since 1999-2000. Between 2013-14 and 2014-15, the number of female fatalities increased by approximately 150 percent in a single year, from 10,250 to 25,500.

Are governments doing enough to tackle winter deaths among older people?

In the words of Dot Gibson, general secretary of advocacy organization National Pensioners Convention, ″Successive administrations have simply neglected the problem of winter fatalities among the older population and appear to have a strategy of crossing their fingers and hoping things would change″ (NPC).

Why do people die of cold weather?

Physical and mental health are harmed by inequality levels, access to hospitals and social services, loneliness, and poverty, all of which affect physical and mental health and increase people’s risk of dying during the winter months.

Are winter deaths on the rise?

Extra winter fatalities are also on the rise, as evidenced by the fact that, despite the mild winter of 2017, an estimated 43,900 extra winter deaths occurred, a 140 percent increase over the previous year and the worst data recorded since 1999-2000. Between 2013-14 and 2014-15, the number of female fatalities increased by approximately 150 percent in a single year, from 10,250 to 25,500.