COVID-19 and the Devaluation of Elders
COVID-19 has clearly revealed the devaluation of elder lives. About forty percent of those who’ve died of COVID have been disabled elders in nursing homes. (Elders don’t go into nursing homes unless they are disabled and need daily care. They are disabled people; not just “old.”)
Sometimes elders have been denied appropriate care because someone younger needed it. Some U.S. states have tried to pass laws that give priority to younger patients. The debate in the United States about who gets care shows that despite medical ethics and even the law (the Americans with Disabilities Act), decisions are made based on oppressive assumptions about who deserves to live.
On the positive side, publications for elders, such as that of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), have recognized the situation (though they lack a clear understanding of oppression). Much media attention has been given to the issue. Age oppression in the time of COVID is not going unnoticed.
El Cerrito, California, USA
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders of elders
(Present Time 203, April 2021)