TAMPA, Fla. (Sept. 23, 2026) —
For older adults, no disaster is simple. In the opening editorial “Complex Emergencies and the Effects on Older Populations,” published in the October 2026 special issue of the Journal of Applied Gerontology, author and special issue guest editor Lindsay Peterson, PhD, explains how hurricanes, floods, wildfires, extreme heat, and other hazards can interact with chronic health conditions, reduced mobility, diminished social supports, and repeated disaster exposure to make preparation and recovery especially difficult.
Peterson introduces the special issue as an examination of the complexity of disasters and their effects on older adults in the United States, Puerto Rico, and China, across home- and community-based care, assisted living, and nursing homes. The editorial emphasizes that disaster exposure is rarely limited to one event and that outcomes often reflect risks and circumstances established long before an emergency occurs.
Across 12 studies, researchers examine how childhood adversity, extreme heat, air pollution, and multiple losses after hurricanes can shape cognitive function, mental health, and daily functioning later in life. Other studies show that disasters can cause sustained disruptions to home health and therapy services beyond the central disaster zone, while pre-existing differences in staffing, organizational structure, and resident involvement can leave assisted living communities and nursing homes unevenly prepared.
The editorial also highlights persistent gaps in individual preparedness. Even older adults with chronic illness or prior disaster experience may lack plans for continuing medical care during a power outage or emergency. At the same time, experience, resilience, hope, self-efficacy, caregiving relationships, and access to information emerge as factors that can strengthen preparedness and recovery.
“Motivation alone is not enough,” said Peterson, of the University of South Florida School of Aging Studies. “Older adults need information that is timely, relevant, and meets their needs and life circumstances. And they need better support from all the organizations with a role in disaster
planning and recovery, from emergency management and health care providers to home care, respite, and long-term care facilities.”
“Disasters do not only threaten physical health. For older adults, they can cut people off from normal routines, relationships, and the caregivers they rely on. Those losses can have lasting psychological effects,” said special issue guest editor Lisa M. Brown, PhD, ABPP, of the Department of Clinical Psychology at Palo Alto University. “When preparedness includes mental health, caregiver support, and trauma-informed care, older adults—and the staff and families who care for them—will be better able to cope during a crisis and throughout recovery.”
“Disasters are apolitical events,” said special issue guest editor David M. Dosa, MD, MPH, professor of medicine and chief of geriatrics at UMass Chan Medical School. “We must do our very best as a society to understand how best to prepare for and respond to disasters. Articles like the ones in this special issue can help us do just that and must be encouraged.”
The editorial points toward interventions that integrate disaster planning into routine clinical care, build organizational capacity in assisted living communities and nursing homes, tailor preparedness approaches to facilities’ geographic and structural differences, and create community-based programs that account for the full range of older adults’ circumstances, particularly in rural areas.
Taken together, the studies show that disaster vulnerability in later life cannot be understood by looking at a single event in isolation. Preparedness and recovery depend on the accumulation and interaction of prior experiences, health and social conditions, institutional capacity, geography, and access to trustworthy information.
By strengthening modifiable factors such as resilience, self-efficacy, caregiving relationships, and access to information—and by addressing gaps in the systems on which older adults rely—communities can improve safety and security before, during, and after disasters.
The editorial, “Complex Emergencies and the Effects on Older Populations,” by Lindsay Peterson, PhD, published in the Journal of Applied Gerontology, will be free to access in perpetuity and can be accessed here.
Journal of Applied Gerontology is the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society. Journal of Applied Gerontology features articles that focus on research applications intended to improve the health and quality of life of older persons or to enhance our understanding of age-related issues that will eventually lead to such outcomes. We construe application to include original investigations or meta-analyses/systematic reviews that have significant clinical, policy, and/or practice implications. Rigorous studies of theoretical, conceptual, or methodological issues pertaining to research application are also welcome.
Journal of Applied Gerontology
Commentary/editorial
People
Complex Emergencies and the Effects on Older Populations
11-Sep-2026