Margaret Morganroth Gullette is resident scholar at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University. She is the author of several groundbreaking books on ageism in America, including by Culture and Ending Ageism, or How Not to Shoot Old People. Her newest book, to be published next year, is American Eldercide.
In this interview, the first of two episodes, she tells the tragic story of unnecessary deaths in nursing homes during the COVID pandemic of 2020 and 2021. Among her observations:
How the epidemic killed 0.3% of all Americans but nearly 8% of nursing home residents.
Why nearly 2,000 nursing homes suffered no COVID fatalities at all - proof that preventing deaths was possible.
Why the nursing home crisis could be solved, but likely won’t be.
How ageism played out in deciding which patients got treated.
You can follow Margaret Gullette on Twitter at @Gullette_mm.
The American Eldercide