Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic is showing troubling othering demographic discourses. For older adults in particular, there are concerning thematics that should be shined light on. In this editorial, we provide perspectives from three countries: Norway, Italy and the United States. We provide four topics of discussion that can be utilized to further understand othering discoures of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as potential future disasters.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic is showing troubling othering demographic discourses
Fraser et al (2020), ask what society’s ageist response to the COVID-19 pandemic says about us, and we argue that the initial response paints a grim picture of how we value the lives of older adults
We explore a discourse on the topic of “COVID-19 as an elderly disease”—which was quite prominent in the beginning of the pandemic in multiple countries (Fraser et al, 2020)
Summary
Based on these observations we offer the following four provocative questions for stimulating a discussion on what we see as othering of older adults during pandemics—which can be used to further implement more inclusive and just strategies for dealing with pandemics. Fraser et al (2020) have pointed out how this is not a disease of older adults, and that “the effects will be felt by everyone. Younger people may chafe at the loss of autonomy or economic pain caused by social distancing, even using #BoomerRemover on social media, while older adults feel forgotten and devalued. How will this affect generational divides, going in both directions?
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