Current directions in views on ageing

Excerpt

In the year 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented, worldwide challenge, pairing a dangerous, viral infection with extensive measures designed to contain it. This has led to severely restricted behavioural freedoms and has been accompanied by fears and worries. Particularly striking for us as researchers in the field of views on ageing were the discussions and regulations to contain the pandemic in order to protect older people. Buttressed by our own research, for years we have been committed to the promotion of differentiated views on old age that more accurately represent the reality of ageing and older people: that is, as diverse and multidimensional (Klusmann et al. 2020; Kornadt et al., 2019). In the societal but also in the scientific dialogue surrounding the pandemic, however, older people have been treated as one, barely differentiated risk group; as vulnerable, helpless, and in need of society’s protection. Strict contact restrictions have been imposed on institutions for older people, social structures have been locked down, families have been urged to reduce contact with older relatives, and people over 65 have been temporarily banned from their workplaces and from attending events, both in public and private spaces. Family members have often taken over the daily tasks such as shopping for older relatives, sometimes even without their consent. These events have had and will continue to have a number of psychosocial consequences—as ageing researchers have pointed out on various occasions (e.g. Ayalon et al. 2020; Ehni and Wahl 2020). …