The elderly in areas under an Alert Level 1 status may now safely go outdoors as long as they observe and properly practice minimum public health standards, a health expert said on Friday, March 18.

“Older persons may safely go out in Level 1 areas, whether they are frail or robust, but it is safest for them to go out as soon as they have completed their vaccination and booster doses,” said Dr. Shelley de la Vega, director of the Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health in a webinar held by the University of the Philippines (UP).

Aside from ensuring that the elderly are fully vaccinated and boosted, it is the public’s duty to also ensure that the society promotes a “healthy aging” amid the pandemic.

Healthy aging is defined as the process of “developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables well-being in older age.”

“We need to make sure that we are able to sustain healthy aging during pandemic. Let us not lose focus. We have to have a good system and the community needs to be supportive,” De la Vega added.

A good environment, according to the expert, will help senior citizens to do all the things that are meaningful to them.

She likewise reiterated that the Department of Health (DOH) and the government are not the only ones who have a role in ensuring an “age-friendly environment.”

The role of the community is to give social support, ensure protection of the elderly from violence and abuse, promotion of education and literacy, enabling the participation of elders in volunteerism, mentoring, and visiting, as well as the provision of spaces to “walk and be active” in the community.

“We can achieve a healthy aging despite the challenges of Covid-19 and beyond this pandemic,” De la Vega concluded.