Why We All Must Be Advocates For Aging
The pandemic was a life event that has affected each and every one of us in one way or another. As we all isolated, locked down and masked up, the impact it has made will be felt for generations to come.
To put the impact that the pandemic had and the lives it impacted, CTV News reported;
"Already, COVID-19 has killed more people in the U.S. than Americans killed in battle during the five most recent wars combined: the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, the War in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf War."
Also, the portion of the population that was most impacted from this disease was older people. Those aged 75 to 84 had a 2800 times higher chance of dying and those aged 85 and older had a 7900 times higher chance of dying when compared to 5 to 17 year olds who may contract the virus.
As sad as this situation was, what was even sadder was some of our society's responses related to the impacts this was having on older people.
We witnessed the ugliness of ageism as people either ignored, downplayed or discounted the lives of older people. Here are just a few examples;
Public authorities in France failed to report mortality numbers of older people in nursing homes which had the potential to influence the public to believe that their lives weren't valued
While outside taking walks, older people were often patronized by other people and told that they should be staying home
A care home in Canada took the doorknobs off residents doors to ensure that stayed isolated and in turn completely limited their personal rights and freedoms
Social media often characterized COVID-19 and older people as helpless and expendable as demonstrated through the hashtag #boomerremover
Long term care homes were also hit extremely hard during the pandemic. We witnessed outbreak after outbreak with older people being left without the necessary care and support or being forced into isolation for weeks (and even months) on end.
Although these situations were highlighted through the pandemic, the causes were not necessarily directly correlated to COVID-19 itself. For example, many care homes had long been poorly staffed, regulated and funded. As well ageism has always been a long time issue in our society. All the pandemic did was shine a very bright light on these societal deficiencies and attitudes.
So will anything change as a result of the pandemic? Will these lessons be lost and forgotten or will real change come as a result?
That's where each of us comes in.
Someone needs to advocate for change.
We cannot expect nor is it feasible for our older population to aggressively speak up and demand change. Everyone one of us hopes to grow older and as a result we will potentially be in need of support and care along with fully expecting to also be respected. If this is what we want, then we need to step up now and ensure that changes are made. We need to lobby and use our votes to speak our wants to the government, we have to speak out against ageism and be willing to not spend our money with organizations that are ageist.
If we don't do this now, then we will have not learned anything through this pandemic and the older lives that paid the price to teach us these lessons will have their voices and experience silenced.
