In the Midst of the Covid19 Crisis, Ageism Raises Its Ugly Head

Ageism been there all along during the COVID pandemic.  There was the quote a few months ago from Dan Patrick, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, “Lots of grandparents would rather die than see health measures damage the US economy.”  It was only a matter of time before a national politician would raise that argument.  And there it was last week.  President Trump passed along a tweet claiming that only 6% of all deaths attributed to COVID 19 were actually due to the virus, and “the other 94% had 2-3 other serious illnesses & the overwhelming majority were of very advanced age.”  So they don’t matter.  The figures are, not surprisingly, also wrong.  But the truth is that many people are willing to write off the deaths of older people.

 

This is particularly the case of older people from disadvantaged groups.  Scholars who study age prejudice often talk about “double jeopardy,” that ageist beliefs and behaviors have an even greater impact on minorities.  Infections and death rates are higher among African Americans.  That’s not surprising, given long-standing disparities in income and access to health care.  African Americans are also more likely to hold jobs that could expose them to COVID 19 and less likely to be able to work remotely.

 

It’s not only despicable politicians and social media trolls who are saying ageist things.  Ageism has been part of the response to COVID 19 in the mainstream media, as documented in a recent article by Bronwen Lichtenstein in The Gerontologist.  Examining the media in the US, United Kingdom and Australia, she found that the vulnerability of older adults was frequently described with name-calling, blame, and “so-be-it” reactions.  There was also considerable debate in the articles she reviewed herd immunity.  Like the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, proponents argued that the herd immunity approach was the best way to support the economy, even though it would likely increase mortality substantially among older people.

 

The country that went full speed ahead to try to reach herd immunity was Sweden.  Their approach of minimizing restrictions had the expected effect of higher rates of illness and mortality, with older people paying a disproportionate price.  Drawing on recent data in the Washington Post, Sweden has a death rate of 575 deaths per million people in the population.  That compares to 610 deaths per million in the UK (which also took a herd immunity approach initially but has since pulled back on it), 545 deaths per million in the US, 111 deaths per million in Germany, and 9 deaths per million in Japan.  Likewise, Sweden is at the high end of countries for deaths in care homes.  Forty-seven percent of all deaths in Sweden occurred in care homes, compared to 45% in the US, 39% in Germany and 14% in Japan.  

 

But despite the expectation that the economy would not suffer if businesses and social interactions continued as usual during the pandemic, Sweden’s economy is not doing particularly well, and certainly not better than its Nordic neighbors, which have much lower rates of infections and mortality.  For example, Denmark has 623 total deaths (107 deaths per million), Norway has 264 deaths (48 deaths per million), and Finland has 335 deaths (60 deaths per million).  

 

The throw away attitude toward older people is most apparent in the death rates in care homes.  Basic procedures for containing infection were woefully inadequate in some facilities in the US and in other countries.  And then there is Japan, which stands out for its very low rate of deaths in care facilities.  It’s not because of a smaller proportion of the population in care facilities. Japan has a universal long-term care insurance program and the number of people in care facilities has grown steadily, and is now about equal to the US, according to the Washington Post article.  The article went on to speculate on what led to the low rates of deaths in care facilities.  One factor was that rates remained low in the population as a whole.  Beyond that, three other factors played a role:  implementation of stronger measures to prevent infections, higher standards of hygiene, and perhaps not surprisingly, the traditional importance of elders in Japanese culture.  

 

Photo:  We found the graffiti message on this old viaduct to be intriguing.  Is it a comment on our times?

 

Source of Statistics for the Nordic countries:  Statista:  https://www.statista.com/statistics/1113834/cumulative-coronavirus-deaths-in-the-nordics/

 

Washington Post, Japan Has the World’s Oldest Population. Yet It Dodged a Coronavirus Crisis at Elder Care Facilities.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/japan-coronavirus-elderly-death-rate/2020/08/29/f30f3ca8-e2da-11ea-82d8-5e55d47e90ca_story.html

https://www.boomlive.in/world/donald-trump-endorses-false-claim-that-cdc-cut-covid-19-death-toll-9580