Infectious Diseases and Healthy Ageing: Making the Case for a 15-Minute City

Abstract

As emerging infectious diseases continue to pose large-scale, international public health challenges, neighbourhood inclusiveness is threatened. This is particularly detrimental to populations such as older adults who are prone to social isolation when there is cognitive decline and when physicality is impacted. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exacerbated existing social isolation at the expense of mental health. Though physical isolation was recommended as an effective way to decrease the spread of a novel coronavirus, we witnessed the impacts of social isolation on ageing in place. It is important to highlight that physical isolation is not the same as social isolation, yet it was interpreted as such by many. The closure of parks, beaches, and recreational centers prompted the world retreat to the indoors, and to find remote, online ways of continuing work and education, while taking for granted our ability to use those devices. Resiliency efforts that communicate the benefits of safely staying active during pandemics can help prevent depression and other impacts from physical isolation in older adults that threaten healthy ageing. In this chapter, we reveal a disconnect between the most investigated healthy ageing facets impacted by COVID-19 and the most common category addressed by interventions geared toward healthy ageing. We propose that research intervention efforts should more closely align with identified areas of need. We also suggest that more societal cost-benefit analyses be conducted to evaluate best practices when it comes to infectious disease outbreaks and mandatory outdoor space closures. We suggest that in order to promote ageing in place, there must be community preparedness and city planning geared toward ensuring neighbourhood inclusiveness during major infectious disease outbreaks. We encourage more research on determining what healthy ageing terms or messaging gains more public buy-in and propose using the term ‘ageing in place ecosystems’ to refer to healthy ageing in cities in a more interdisciplinary way. The concept of a 15-minute city, therefore, emerges as a conduit to healthy ageing and sustainable living in the twenty-first century.