Not Only Virus Spread: The Diffusion of Ageism during the Outbreak of COVID-19

ABSTRACT

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we face an exacerbation of ageism as well as a flourish of intergenerational solidarity. The use of chronological age is an unjustified threshold for the creation of public policies to control the spreading of the virus; doing so reinforces intrapersonal and interpersonal negative age stereotypes and violates older persons’ human rights to autonomy, proper care treatment, work, and equality. By overlooking differences within age groups, measures formulated solely on the basis of age are unable to target beneficiaries’ needs. Concurrently, several initiatives are trying to overcome ageist practices by providing different types of assistance to older adults on the basis of need rather than chronological age. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network EuroAgeism calls on policymakers to refrain from ageist practices and language, as they exacerbate our ability to meet the COVID-19 crisis and future emergencies.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• ageism
• policy
• intergenerational solidarity
• older persons’ rights

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The MSCA-ITN EuroAgeism, funded under Horizon 2020 and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, is a multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral, science-policy international network of researchers, policymakers and social and health care professionals. The aim of the network is to tackle ageism and raise awareness of ageist practices and policies in clinical, social and everyday settings. Senior and early-stage researchers explore the ways to promote inclusive and age-friendly societies, to improve labor market conditions for all ages, and to ensure that access to goods and services is not limited by one’s age. Please refer to our website (https://euroageism.eu/policy_projects/perspective-on-ageism-and-covid-19-upcoming-publication/) for the list of signatories to the MSCA-ITN Innovative Training Network EuroAgeism.

Additional information

Funding

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation progamme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 764632.