Seniors' disaster resilience: A scoping review of the literature

In 2000, for the first time in human history, the global number of older adults surpassed the number of children. Globally, the older adult population will continue to grow at unprecedented rates. The number of older adults is projected to increase to 1.5 billion by 2050. These changes have significant social and economic implications, and for future disaster risk reduction practice and policy. The purpose of this paper is to use coping review methodology to identify the evidence-based knowledge on the main drivers of seniors' resilience throughout the disaster management cycle: i) mitigation, ii) preparedness, iii) response, and iv) recovery. The review highlights six points of discussion that may help to guide future disaster management research, policy, and practice. Overall a stronger research agenda on seniors' disaster resilience is necessary, without such evidence seniors may continue to experience disproportionate disaster outcomes.