Ageism, ableism live ‘just around the block’
“The COVID-19 pandemic is causing untold fear and suffering for older people across the world. Beyond its immediate health impact, the pandemic is putting older people at greater risk of poverty, discrimination, and isolation. It is likely to have a particularly devastating impact on older people in developing countries.” — UN Secretary-General António Guterres
The year 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the United Nations and the 30th anniversary of the International Day of Older Persons (Oct. 1). I pulled up the website, looking for something inspiring. Instead, I found the UN Secretary-General’s statement above and added my own question: Or do pandemics just show how ageist we are?
Then, I heard Aston Applewhite (author of “This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism”) present at last week’s National Association of Area Agencies on Aging annual conference. Applewhite pulls no punches calling out ageism in ourselves and in our world. She also spoke about the devastation caused by ableism: the way society judges and treats people based on disability.
Like racism and sexism, ageism and ableism are imbedded in society’s structures and institutions. While most people never change our race, and a small minority will change our gender, we will all change our age and abilities. After surviving all that life throws at us, we WILL be older. Most of us will develop some form of disability or health condition if we didn’t show up with one at birth. We are all an accident or health catastrophe away from living a drastically different life.
If you were avoiding this fact, COVID-19 makes it harder to do so. There is so much we still don’t know about this virus and what it does to those who survive its worst elements, but we now have a label for these people. They are “long haulers” living in uncharted and likely terrifying disability territory.
COVID-19 broke the world’s ageism wide open. “Heh, don’t worry, don’t mask up, don’t isolate, it only affects older people or people with chronic health conditions. Let 60 or 70% of people get it so we have herd immunity.”
Why aren’t we outraged by this thought process? Answer: ageism and ableism. We say we revere and respect our elders and people should all be treated the same regardless of ability. Yet, ageism and ableism live just around the block and, when push comes to shove, will show up to make a scene. Seeing people of color, those with disabilities or older people as separate and expendable during COVID-19 will have consequences for the human psyche.
2020 is also being recognized as the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife” to highlight their role in the health of older persons with a primary focus on the role of women — who are relatively undervalued and, in most cases, inadequately compensated.
The employees of nursing homes and other longterm care settings are also victims of an ageist, ableist and racist society’s failure to care about what is happening to those who live and work there. In normal times, this failure is devastating. With COVID-19, it is deadly.
The observance of Older Person’s Day also promotes the Decade of Healthy Aging (2020-2030) and brings together UN experts, civil society, government and the health professions to discuss strategic objectives and review progress and challenges related to the Global Strategy and Action Plan on Aging and Health. What a way to start a decade.
To learn more about the International Day of the Older Person and how the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals address issues of aging and disability, go to www.un.org.
And wear a mask.