Volunteers from the Catholic Church in Brazil helped to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 among the elderly, a new study shows. 
Peter Kevern, Professor Values in Health and Social Care at Staffordshire University, partnered with The Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo to carry out the study which looked at the contribution of the Pastoral da Pessoa Idosa (PPI) program in Brazil. And Professor Kevern suggests that the study findings may well assist the UK whose social care system has been severely tested during the pandemic. PPI is a volunteer movement that uses the organizational structure of the Catholic Church of Brazil to provide a range of support to isolated elderly people right across the country. Anyone can be a volunteer in their community or in their building to support older people through the scheme. Last year, approximately 25,000 ‘Pastoral Agents’, provided home visits, personalized practical help and support to 164,000 older people. Pastoral Agents are also trained to measure and report indicators of well-being such as fragility, fluid intake, annual flu vaccination, and to refer people to government agencies. Brazil has a fragile social infrastructure so there are many unmet social needs to be addressed. The aim of this research was to estimate the contribution of the PPI program to the health and social support of older people.
Almost 4,000 volunteers were interviewed over a one-week period using a 21-item telephone questionnaire to evaluate the impact of its activities during ‘normal’ times, and how they changed to address the challenge of COVID-19.”
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Harrison Okafor
editor
Judith is a believer, a lover of Christ and a Gospel freak person. A passionate gospel blogger and press writer. I work with GospelHitsNaija.net Media, no 1 Gospel music platform.
