GBO NEWS: $1,500 Journalists in Aging Deadline; Biden’s Caregiving Plan; KQED Deafness Story Goes Hollywood; NYT’s Huge ADA at 30 Series; Native American Food Fight Story Awarded; Age Writer’s Bluegrass Book Strums Up Top Nomination; Facilities Evict Elders for COVID-19 Bonus; & MORE
GENERATIONS BEAT ONLINE NEWS
E-News of the Journalists Network on Generations – Our 27th Year.
August 6, 2020 — Volume 27, Number 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: GBONews, e-news of the Journalists Network on Generations (JNG), publishes alerts for journalists, producers and authors covering generational issues. Send your news of important stories or books (by you and others), fellowships, awards or pertinent kvetches to GBO News Editor Paul Kleyman. [pfkleyman@gmail.com]. To subscribe to GBONews.org at no charge, simply sending a request to Paul with your name, address, phone number and editorial affiliation or note that you freelance. For each issue, you’ll receive the table of contents in an e-mail, so just click through to the full issue at www.gbonews.org. GBONews does not provide its list to other entities.
In This Issue: Stable Genius Cognitive Test—Remember in Order: Vote, Vote, Vote, Vote, Vote..
1. EYES ON THE PRIZE: *** $1,500 Journalists in Aging Fellowship Deadline Announced, Sept. 1.
2. CAMPAIGN STABLE BRAIN: Biden’s Caregiving Plan for All Ages, But. . .
3. GOOD SOURCES: *** Medicaid Expanded Tuesday in Missouri, Oklahoma Previously, See Commonwealth Fund Backgrounder; *** This CAAR Drives Key Story/Study Links; *** “A New Ageism? Fallout from the Pandemic,” Zoom panel by the Longevity Project and Stanford Center on Longevity.
4. GEN BEATLES NEWS: *** Deafness Story Goes Hollywood (Radio Story Optioned for Film); *** Debra Krol Awarded for “California’s Forage Wars” on Native American Food-Gathering Rights; *** Thomas Goldsmith Nominated for His Book on Earl Scruggs and Bluegrass History.
5. THE STORYBOARD
*** “One Laid Groundwork for The ADA; The Other Grew Up Under Its Promises,” by Joseph Shapiro with Emma Bowman, NPR Weekend Edition Sunday;
*** “The A.D.A. at 30: Beyond the Law’s Promise,” New York Times Series and Special Section;
*** “As Trump and Biden Trade Age Insults, Older Workers Suffer,” by Kerry Hannon, MarketWatch;
*** “Despite Risks, Trump Invests Big in Attacks on Biden’s Age,” by Steve Peoples, Associated Press;
*** “COVID-19, Aging, Dementia and Social Bonds; an Arab American Perspective” by Hassan Abbas, Arab American News;
*** “Why Older People Really Eschew Technology (It’s not because they can’t use it),” by Joelle Renstrom, Slate;
*** SERIES “Thirty Six Veterans Die of Covid-19 in NC State Veterans Nursing Homes That a Private-Company Has Run for 22 Years,” by Thomas Goldsmith and Riley Davis North Carolina Health News;
*** “Nursing Home Residents Moved Out To Make Way For COVID-19 Patients,” by Ina Jaffe, NPR News.
1. EYES ON THE PRIZE
*** JOURNALIST IN AGING FELLOWSHIP, SEPT. 1 DEADLINE: The application deadline for the 11th annual Journalists in Aging Fellows Program is set for Tues., Sept. 1, 2020. The fellowship, which comes with a $1,500 stipend, is open to journalists in the mainstream or ethnic/community media in any language, distributed to audiences in the United States. The program is sponsored by the Journalists Network on Generations, publisher of GBONews.org, and The Gerontological Society of America (GSA).
Because time is shorter now than in past years, don’t hesitate to apply. Go to the applications website for full details – and please pass this information on to other reporters you think might be interested. There will be up to 15 spots this year, half from the mainstream media, and half from ethnic/community news sites.
As you might expect, the 2020 program will hold its sessions entirely online, starting the last week of October. Applicants can work in any media format (print, audio, video, online, and so on) either on staff or as a freelance contributor. Each application must include a story pitch on any topic in aging of one-to-two pages, plus a letter or email approval from an editor or producer saying their news outlet will consider the proposed story or series as an assignment for publication, if it is selected for the fellowship.
For the first time this year, the program’s funders include a grant-maker from the realm of journalism, the Gannett Foundation, associated with USA Today and other outlets of Gannett Media Corp. For media grantees, such as the Poynter Institute’s Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Journalism, the foundation supports “training programs with particular interest in programs or projects that seek to encourage diversity in newsrooms and in coverage.” We’re proud to have them aboard to support the Journalists in Aging Fellows Program.
Also, the program’s major funders so far this year include the Silver Century Foundation, RRF Foundation for Aging and The John A. Hartford Foundation.
Since its start in 2010, this fellowship project has helped generate over 700 news stories produced by 170 alumni. It has two goals: to train journalists in covering issues in aging, better allowing them to spread a new awareness to general-audience, ethnic and other community populations; and to disseminate information about new scientific findings, policy debates, innovations and evidence-based solutions.
Unlike pre-COVID years, fellows will not personally congregate at the GSA Annual Scientific Meeting, Nov. 4-7. Originally scheduled for Philadelphia, it will now narrow-cast its many expert sessions on the latest developments in science and social science on screens somewhere near you. One advantage to reporters everywhere is the these will be recorded and accessible online. GBONews.org will have more about this later. That will be particularly helpful to generations-beat reporters who will otherwise be tied up with election coverage that week.
In addition, the selected fellows will sit in on a series of special training webinars designed expressly for them during the weeks before and following the full GSA professional conference. We’re planning presentations on how key demographic developments and issues in health and income security are apt to play out in the post-election and the continuing coronavirus year ahead – questions to raise and quotable experts to noodle over them.
The fellowship will showcase research highlights from the meeting and other sources, and it will host discussions with veteran journalists on how to position aging-related stories in the current media environment.
The program requires reporters to deliver two projects based on current aging research, including a short initial story and major piece or series in the following months. All applications for the fellowship program will be reviewed by a selection committee of gerontologists and editorial professionals. The criteria will include clarity and originality of proposed in-depth story projects; quality of samples of published or produced work; and high-impact potential of proposals geographically and across different ethnic or racial populations. The 2020 application deadline is Tuesday, September 1.
Also, for the first time this year, Liz Seegert, takes over as the fellowship’s co-director, representing the Journalists Network on Generations. A New York-based freelance journalist, she is editor of the Association of Health Care Journalists’ Core Topic section on Aging. Having spent the past year serving as the fellowship program’s program coordinator, Seegert succeeds the program’s co-founder, Paul Kleyman, who will continue in his “unretirement” as its senior advisor and editorial consultant. Seegert will work closely with co-director Todd Kluss, GSA’s Director of Communications and Editor-in-Chief, Gerontology News, who was on the program’s founding staff.
A continuously updated list of stories from the fellows and the hundreds of participating news organizations is available online.
If you have questions, contact Liz Seegert: www.lizseegert.com; 718-229-5730 (work) or 516-225-9636 (mobile), or Todd Kluss: tkluss@geron.org; 202-587-2839.
2. STABLE BRAIN CAMPAIGN: Biden’s Caregiving Plan for All Ages, But. . .
GBO’s editor had to take one deep sigh as a lefty artist friend in her 70s, disappointed that former Vice President Joe Biden has acceded to the Democratic nomination, ranted at his centrist policies and added that he’s showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease. She saw it on the internet. Oy! Aside from the cross-ideological ageism of it, I shot back that in numerous interviews I’ve watched (she hadn’t) he’s displayed none of that. Then in late July I happened, during a political nerd’s bout of channel surfing, to land on CSPAN’s video of Biden’s press conference that day. So I watched for almost an hour as he outlined his four plans, the latest of which is the one on caregiving, an issue of keen interest for GBONews.org.
And here’s the problem: While there was absolutely no indication of Biden’s memory slippage – quite the opposite for this astute politician – as he droned on, I found my eyes wandering to the American flags displayed behind him – and realized I was counting the white stars in staggered rows on their blue field.
The plans themselves aren’t bad, and the one on caregiving is especially fresh, as noted below. Perhaps, U.S. voters are ready for a leader who actually has plans – as Elizabeth Warren showed in her campaign almost as joyously as she did selfies. That’s certainly true of anyone who hoping things will tone well down from the exhausting experience of the past four years. And over these years we’ve surely seen Biden connect with listeners in personal, one-on-one interviews. But even in this benchmark campaign, will dull do it?
Traditionally, U.S. presidential campaigns are said to start in earnest after Labor Day. And there’s a lot for voters to be agitated about. But what of excitement? The nervous potential remains for another split between the popular vote and Electoral College; this citizen hopes for a clear signal for excited voters – not merely incited voters.
Among those of us concerned for decades about policy negligence toward our rapidly aging nation, and our grandchildren, Biden’s fourth plank is a political breakthrough. When he announce it July 21, many stories covered the basics with a link to the proposal. For instance, in “Biden to unveil ‘caregiving’ plan for young kids, older Americans,” reporter Nicole Gaudiano of Politico provide an essential overview of Biden’s $775 billion (over 10 years) plan for child and elder care, the latest plank of his economic recovery plan.
Although headlined yawningly by his campaign as the “Plan for Mobilizing American Talent and Heart to Create a 21st Century Caregiving and Education Workforce,” Gaudiano explains, “The plan aims to ensure American families have access to affordable child care and builds on the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s earlier promise of free preschool for all three- and four-year-olds, by way of federal funding, extra tax credits and subsidies provided on a sliding scale. The proposal would also expand access to care for older Americans and those with disabilities.”
Biden’s announcement, the story continues, “says it would be fully covered by rolling back tax breaks for real estate investors with incomes over $400,000 and taking steps to increase tax compliance for high-income earners.” They assert that it would “put 3 million Americans to work in new care and education jobs, while providing families up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave.”
Still, in her Aug. 3 New York Times op-ed headed, “Biden’s Quietly Radical Care Plan,” Bryce Covert, observed, “Joe Biden’s recent policy proposal to address the country’s crisis of care didn’t garner major headlines. There were no haphazardly capitalized Trump tweets in response, nor congressional Republicans denouncing it as socialism. But make no mistake: His plan is quietly radical in both its comprehensiveness and its framing.”
Covert lauded Biden for “talking about child care and elder care in the same breath, and making them part of his economic package. Both changes are long overdue.”
She added, “Elder care is especially neglected in policymaking, despite the fact that the number of Americans age 65 or older is set to grow by more than 90 percent over the next four decades. Look no further for proof that we ignore the plight of the elderly than the abysmal way people in nursing homes have fared in the coronavirus crisis, where deaths recently passed 40,000. A vast majority of adults facing old age would prefer to remain in their homes, but in-home care is usually cost prohibitive or unavailable. Mr. Biden wants to find ways to make it more accessible and to ensure that the people who provide this care are paid and treated well.”
Covert emphasized, “That adequate child care undergirds the smooth functioning of the rest of the economy has become increasingly clear over the course of the pandemic. But it was true long before the virus. The share of American women in the paid work force has been falling behind that in other developed countries for decades thanks to a lack of investment in child care. We still haven’t made the same conceptual leap with elder care, however, or care for other family members who aren’t children — though we should. Those who care for their spouses or parents are also less likely to work, and even those with jobs miss over a week of work each year on average because of these responsibilities; the lost productivity costs more than $28 billion a year. Imagine how much more productive we could all be if we could obtain and afford quality care for our children, parents, spouses and siblings.”
Whatever the outcome on Nov. 3 (and likely in the electoral nail-bitter following), those of us who have seen nothing but budget-obsessed, uncaring politics since the 1960s should find something hopeful, maybe a little exciting, too, in the greater visibility – even without a Tweet’s notice – at the heart of America’s family truth. Can the unusual politics of caregiving get any measure of the attention given a “novel” coronavirus?
3. GOOD SOURCES
*** Missouri Became the 38th State/District of Columbia Approving Medicaid Expansion, Tuesday. It’s one of a few states to do so by approving a change in the state constitution. Reporters can find good insights into how states are approaching expansion in a related story, “Oklahoma Voters Approve Expanding Medicaid Eligibility in Ballot Measure,” in a “To the Point” blog by the Commonwealth Fund, (July 8, 2020).
Staff analyst Akeiisa Coleman writes that Oklahoma voted to expand its Medicaid eligibility, especially important to many pre-Medicare people ages 50-64, despite fervent opposition by red-state politicians. The policy brief describes how voters in five states have forced changes. Also, she summarizes the different procedural and political challenges ahead for them. For instance, Oklahoma used a ballot measure to win voter approval, thus amending their state constitution “to reduce political interference,” says Coleman. But that approach also comes with issues.
The Oklahoma measure expands Medicaid eligibility to people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) — $17,600 annually. It’s expected to cover an additional 200,000 residents. With its Aug. 4 vote, Missouri will provide an additional 230,000 insured residents.
(Note: There’s constant confusion over whether it’s up to 133% of the FPL, as stated in the Missouri measure, or 138%. The American Public Health Association site explains that because state Medicaid eligibility varied so widely on income and asset measures, the Affordable Care Act simply spotted low-income people a standard 5% deduction on what’s considered“ income, giving low-income people an effective level of 138%. States may also increase this. Under Missouri’s existing Medicaid eligibility rules, someone had to have an income below about 20% of the FPL to qualify for care.)
Coleman explains, “Expanding Medicaid is not as simple as flipping a switch. States must make administrative adjustments to enroll the newly eligible and submit a state plan amendment to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to add the expansion group. CMS generally approves these changes quickly. States also can submit 1115 waivers for demonstration projects that allow some flexibility in administering the program. This process requires multiple public comment periods and CMS approval typically takes much longer.”
Although conservative politicians complain that expansion imposes undue costs on states, the Commonwealth Fund piece goes on, “Ballot initiatives to expand Medicaid have largely succeeded because of wide support from the public and the recognition that it’s a good deal for states because the federal government picks up 90 percent of the cost. A recent analysis finds the net cost of expansion for states is often less than the 10 percent they are required to cover because of savings generated in other budget areas.”
*** This CAAR Drives Key Story/Study Links: Getting too many verbose emails (like GBONews)? CAAR (Current Awareness in Aging Research E-Clippings) is essential in the constant race to keep up with headlines and research in aging. Produced at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, every week or so, the email service provides a wide range of linked headlines, both national and state, along with titles of important U.S. and international research studies on aging. GBO’s editor often finds quick and handy links to that story from a couple of days ago – or was it last week – ah, did I hear it on NPR or see it in — which paper? Often in CAAR I find the story and source quickly. Journalists and authors on aging may request to be on the list by emailing Charlie Fiss, Information Manager, Data and Information Services Center.
Here’s just a sample of their listings from one CAAR’s issue, July 27-July 31, 2020:
* “Stimulus Talks Could Snag on Social Security Review Panels,” by Laura Davison (_Bloomberg_, July 27, 2020). https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-27/stimulus-talks-could-snag-on-social-security-review-panels
* “This plan to fix Social Security could be part of the HEALS Act. Some worry it may lead to benefit cuts,” by Lorie Konish (_CNBC_, July 29, 2020). https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/29/heals-act-may-include-controversial-plan-to-fix-social-security-funds.html
* “Medicare Part B premium would be frozen in Republicans’ HEALS Act relief bill,” by Sarah O’Brien (_CNBC_, July 28, 2020). https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/28/gops-proposed-heals-act-would-freeze-medicare-part-b-premium-for-2021.html
* "COVID-19 may be why your Social Security benefits drop," by Alessandra Malito (_MarketWatch_, July 30, 2020). https://www.marketwatch.com/story/covid-19-may-be-why-your-social-security-benefits-drop-2020-07-30
* "Top fund firms oppose planned U.S. roadblock to green retirement funds," by Ross Kerber (_Reuters_, July 31, 2020). https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-funds/top-fund-firms-oppose-planned-u-s-roadblock-to-green-retirement-funds-idUSKCN24W1US
* "Seniors and staff caught in the middle of nursing homes' quest for profit, by Ann Neumann (_Guardian_ [London], July 30, 2020). https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/30/care-homes-seniors-nursing-homes-flipping-profit
* "'Amazing, Isn't It?' Long-Sought Blood Test for Alzheimer's in Reach," by Pam Belluck (_New York Times_, July 28, 2020). Note: _NYT_ may require free registration before providing articles. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/health/alzheimers-blood-test.html
* "Injury patterns may help differentiate between accidents and physical abuse in elderly patients, new study finds," (Eurekalert [American Association for the Advancement of Science], July 28, 2020). https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-07/acoe-ipm072820.php
*** “A New Ageism? Fallout from the Pandemic” — This Zoom recording of a recent panel exploring the public and media response to the pandemic was produced by the Longevity Project, in collaboration with the Stanford Center on Longevity, it includes Richard Eisenberg, managing editor of Next Avenue; Paul Irving, chairman of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging; and Louise Aronson, MD, a geriatrician and professor of medicine at the UCSF Division of Geriatrics and author of Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life.”
4. GEN BEATLES NEWS
*** Deafness Story Goes Hollywood: Journalists on health or aging can feel it – that occasional, satisfying story that feels so right. But April Dembosky, Health Correspondent for KQED public radio’s “California Report,” was amazed when her 2017 story, “The Soundtrack of Silence,” brought a call from Hollywood. Paramount Pictures has optioned the story, lined up actor Channing Tatum to play the lead role, and has a writer working on the script. Of course Hollywood anything caries the caveat: it remains to be seen. That said, though, how cool.
Dembosky, a former Journalists in Aging Fellow, focused on Matt Hay, who, as a college sophomore, learned he has a rare condition that would slowly silence his hearing. In the following few years, he tried ignoring the diagnosis. But as his hearing aids get bigger and bigger, Hay became determined to capture in memory key sounds before they slipped away, particularly his girlfriend’s voice and the songs of his youth. Hay listened to music with a new appreciation, laying down in mind the mix-tape of his life.
The “California Report” recently reprised the story in “Revisiting the Soundtrack of Silence.” (a half-hour, July 24). As “California Report Magazine” anchor, Shasha Khocha noted, “this week we’re going to take a break from stories about police violence and coronavirus.” A little triumph, a lot of love.
*** Debra Krol Won Second Place in the Food Feature category at the Society for Features Journalism competition. The piece doesn’t offer recipes, but rather the ingredients for political action. Krol worked with the Native American High Country News and the online food and lifestyle magazine, Roads & Kingdoms (a James Beard Award Winner).
Krol, also a past Journalists in Aging Fellow, e-mailed GBONews, “I’m stoked, and here’s the story I won it for, ‘California’s Forage Wars.’ ”
The lead: “Hillary Renick hikes down scree and rocks worn smooth by waves to reach the sandy beach below. The morning fog has receded, but the sky is still gray along the Mendocino County coastline as Renick scrambles up, down, and around Pomo village and nearby sites, where her people harvest traditional foods and collect materials for regalia, such as shells. ‘The rocky inlets are where the abalone hang out,’ says Renick.”
The piece goes on, “Renick, a citizen of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, and her group of self-described ‘guerilla gatherers,’ are scouting Glass Beach in Fort Bragg for abalone, seaweed and shells they use for food, regalia and ceremonies. ‘We like to say we’re badass Indian women gathering under cover of darkness, crawling under fences, over rocks, around no trespassing signs, and through the mud to provide for funerals, feasts and celebrations,’ Renick says—although men are also part of the group. Renick and her friends and family routinely defy California laws and natural-resource management regulations they say obstruct their right to maintain these traditional practices.”
Krol continues, “In June 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an apology to the more than 155 Indigenous tribes in the state for decades of genocide, oppression, neglect—wrongs that included suppression of traditional subsistence rights. But the state still regulates fishing, hunting and gathering. Decade after decade, tribes in California have had to find ways to maintain their traditional ways of life in a state that has made this challenging—or even illegal.”
Two notes: First, the story had support from the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. Second, thanks to Krol for a great Scrabble word: “scree” refers to mounds of loose rock or gravel on hillsides.
*** Writer of the Year Nominee for — Bluegrass? Yup, Thomas “Tommy” Goldsmith, another Journalists in Aging Fellowship alum, got nominated as Writer of the Year recently for his book, Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown: The Making of an American Classic, (2018, U. of Illinois Press). Goldsmith, who admits to being “a closet banjo picker,” was nominated for the Nashville-based International Bluegrass Music Association 31st annual honors.
Not incidentally, the purveyor of old-time music also has covered issues in aging for 14 years, including a decade at Raleigh, N.C.’s News & Observer, before moving on. Goldsmith emailed GBONews, “I’ve been covering aging stuff for a couple of years at North Carolina Health News. Been slammed with COVID/aging stories as you can imagine. I’m still making music, but almost always via digital recording at home.” (See “The Storyboard” section below for links to his latest investigative series on veterans’ coronavirus deaths in privately owned nursing homes there.) The winners will be announced later this year.
5. THE STORYBOARD
*** “One Laid Groundwork For The ADA; The Other Grew Up Under Its Promises,” by Joseph Shapiro with Emma Bowman, NPR Weekend Edition Sunday (July 26, 2020), 4-min. audio and article: “In 1977, Judy Heumann helped lead a peaceful protest that forced the government to follow through with Section 504. As part of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, the law would force hospitals, universities and other public spaces that received federal money, to remove barriers to accessibility for all Americans. But its implementation was long delayed over the costs necessary to retrofit buildings to comply with the law. ‘We were being disregarded, not having ramps, not having accessible bathrooms, not being able to get across the street, not being able to get on buses,’ Heumann told NPR.”
The movement that Heumann, now 72 and a survivor of polio, helped organize led President George H.W. Bush to sign the Americans with Disabilities Act into law in 1990, expanding disability rights beyond federally funded spaces. According to the story, “People with disabilities could no longer be denied access to jobs, school, transportation, or to public places.”
The piece explains, “Disability was once seen as a personal health problem. But the ADA essentially argued that one’s inability to walk isn’t what holds them back, it’s that there are stairs that block them from getting into a school, a workplace or a restaurant.”
*** “The A.D.A. at 30: Beyond the Law’s Promise,” is the site for the New York Times series on “how the Americans With Disabilities Act has shaped modern life for people with disabilities in the 30 years since it was passed.” It ran as an 18-page special section, July 26. NPR’s Joseph Shapiro, advocate Judy Heumann and political pundit Andrew Solomon are among the authors, activists and reporters who wrote the two dozen article published in July.
In a remarkable admission, Times architectural critic Michael Kimmelman wrote that “disability rights advocates . . . were right. I was wrong,” in 2019 when he praised the design of a $41.5 million library in Queens, N.Y., the features of which met the letter of ADA regulations while proving unnavigable by those with mobility challenges, such as wheel chairs. Kimmelman realized, “A public building has everyone as its client. Does its design evolve out of a truly collaborative process that engages, upfront, the diversity of users, including those with disabilities, who know best what they need and what?”
Those questions should interrogate every kind of public project or reform, including those advanced by well-meaning officials, advocates and experts convinced they know what’s needed and that they don’t have to ask those actually affected about their experience and views.
For an overview story on the project, see the “Times Insider” piece, “Exploring What Disability Means Today, and Could Mean Tomorrow,” by NYT’s Amisha Padnani andDan Sanchez.
*** “As Trump and Biden Trade Age Insults, Older Workers Suffer,” by Kerry Hannon, MarketWatch (July 20, 2020): Drop head: “Ageism is alive and well in the hiring process.” Hannon wrote, “The age insults don’t stop coming. President Donald Trump, 74, repeatedly criticizes former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, for his mental fitness. It’s a repetitive refrain of his suggesting that Biden has grown confused and would be incapable of tackling the job. . . . In fairness, both men have publicly contested each other’s mental health. ‘This president talks about cognitive capability,’ Biden said during a press conference in Wilmington. Del. ‘He doesn’t seem to be cognitively aware of what’s going on.’ (The comment was referring to intelligence reports of Russian bounties being offered on U.S, troops in Afghanistan.)
Cognitive verdicts should be left to the medical experts. I have no insight into the factual basis of these assertions. But they do cut close to the bone.”
Of course, since Hannon’s article appeared, Trump’s niece, clinical psychologist Mary Trump, PhD, has been all over the media with her analysis of her uncle’s emotional and cognitive dysfunction beginning about age 12. (Not that her “diagnosis” doesn’t come with an inherent conflict.)
More to the point, however, Hannon poignantly stated, “My father lived with Alzheimer’s disease for 10 years, and my 90-year-old mother, who I help care for, also has a form of dementia. These kinds of statements should not be tossed about as a way to sling mud.”
She continued, “It may be a campaign tactic, but older workers be forewarned. Ageism runs deep in our culture–especially in the workplace. This kind of bias is pervasive and starts at the top, even as an off-the-cuff comment that sows a seed and adds to the perception of older adults as less than.”
Hannon cited new results from the National Poll on Healthy Aging, conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. It found that the “sample of more than 2,000 adults aged 50 to 80 reported that more than 80% of those polled say they commonly experience at least one form of ageism in their day-to-day lives.”
She stressed, “Given the current state of the labor market and economy due to COVID-19, many workers in their 60s and 70s will need to stay on the job longer.” Lost in the stereotypes, Hannon explains are the contributions of older workers and entrepreneurs in terms of human and social capital, especially education, work experience, mentorship of new workers, social networks, an d so on, which “tend to increase with age, because you have had more time to cultivate them.
Hannon, author of a dozen books on retirement finance, concluded her column by quoted gerontologist Dr. Robert N. Butler , who coined the term ageism: He wrote: “Ageism can be defined as a systematic stereotyping of and discrimination against people because they are old, just as racism and sexism accomplish this with skin color and gender. Ageism is manifested in a wide range of phenomena, on both individual and institutional levels—stereotypes and myths, outright disdain and dislike, simple subtle avoidance of contact, and discriminatory practices in housing, employment, and services of all kinds.”
*** “Despite Risks, Trump Invests Big in Attacks on Biden’s Age,” by Steve Peoples, Associated Press (July 8, 2020): “President Donald Trump has accused his Democratic rival Joe Biden of having connections to the ‘radical left’ and has pilloried his relationship with China, his record on criminal justice, his plans for the pandemic and even his son’s business dealings. But in a kitchen-sink offensive backed by a mountain of campaign cash, the 74-year-old Trump has so far invested in one line of attack above all: the charge that his 77-year-old opponent is too old and mentally weak to be an effective president. The attack has drawn cries of ageism, and there is evidence it may be ineffective.
“Shrugging off the risks, Trump’s team is pumping millions of dollars into the broadside and vowed this week not to back off. . . Yet while there is no known medical evidence that either candidate is declining, age and mental competence remain a key issue in 2020 for both candidates. Should he defeat Trump this fall, Biden, who turns 78 on Nov. 20, would be the oldest first-term president in U.S. history. Trump, who turned 74 on June 14, holds the current record.”
The story adds, “A poll commissioned by the Republican National Committee this spring determined that attacks on Biden’s mental acuity didn’t sway persuadable voters.”
Peoples quotes long-time Washington advocate for elders, Robert Blancato, “Not everybody in the world can be a victim of racism, not everybody in the world can be a victim of sexism, but everybody has potential to be a victim of ageism,” he said, predicting that ads focusing on age would backfire on the Trump campaign. “When you get into ageism, I don’t know what base you’re appealing to.”
*** “COVID-19, Aging, Dementia and Social Bonds; an Arab American Perspective” by Hassan Abbas, Arab American News (July 26, 2020): “We do know from our research that Arab Americans report social relations characteristics that may protect them from dementia,” said Kristine Ajrouch, a leading researcher in aging and dementia among Arab Americans. One of three directors at the Michigan Center for Contextual Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease, she and her colleagues study social and economic factors that contribute to mental health among elders. Ajrouch said Arab Americans report more frequent contact with their social network on average than Blacks or whites in the Metro Detroit area. But, she added, “These social relations have been dramatically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, even when those relations are … strong.”
*** “Why Older People Really Eschew Technology (It’s not because they can’t use it),” by Joelle Renstrom, Slate (July 13, 2020): “There’s a widespread idea that seniors are technologically illiterate or dislike devices, but that’s not necessarily the case. Instead, older adults adopt tech they find useful and resist tech they don’t. In normal times, that can be problematic when it comes to filing online forms or accessing test results. But in the pandemic, when internet connectivity drives social engagement and medical care, this misconception could be deadly. Roughly 27 percent of Americans over 65 are not online, and understanding why is key to changing that. If companies designed devices and software with value for seniors, not as many older people would find themselves on the other side of the digital divide. During a pandemic, that could save lives.”
Renstrom goes on, “According to the Pew Research Center, 73 percent of people over 65 in the U.S. use the internet, up from 14 percent in 2000. The older the person, the less likely she is to embrace the internet, social media, or smartphones, but those who have adopted these technologies use them a lot and learn new skills to do so. Seniors are the fastest growing online demographic, though some remain holdouts. In many of those cases, the real barrier to entry isn’t technological—it’s personal. Seniors learn new tech skills when that tech has value to them.”
*** SERIES “Thirty Six Veterans Die of Covid-19 in NC State Veterans Nursing Homes That a Private-Company Has Run for 22 Years,” by Thomas Goldsmith and Riley Davis North Carolina Health News (July 30, 2020): “North Carolina’s state-owned veterans nursing homes became the place where 36 ailing men caught COVID-19, then died, after surviving tours in places such as Pearl Harbor and Korea, according to federal records.”
Also in this series: “Coronavirus deaths bring attention to privatized state veterans homes,” plus, “Cooper, national leaders respond to ravaged veterans nursing homes, look ahead for solutions,” referring to Democratic Governor Roy Cooper (both stories, July 31, 2020).
*** “Nursing Home Residents Moved Out To Make Way For COVID-19 Patients,” by Ina Jaffe, NPR News (Aug. 4, 2020): In this online written piece, Jaffe, NPR’s reporter on aging, picks up on a story worth inquiring about in communities around the country. Her lead: “In some nursing homes, 100% of the residents are positive for the coronavirus. That’s by design. These facilities have volunteered to devote part or all of their buildings exclusively to treating COVID-19 patients, who bring in more government money. But to make room for them, the original residents can be forced out of the places they’ve called home.”
She explains, “Federal law says that nursing home residents have to receive 30 days’ notice before an involuntary transfer. They also have the right to appeal. But the federal government waived that rule during the pandemic. So some nursing homes in Massachusetts, Texas, California and other states have converted to caring just for coronavirus-positive patients.”
The Journalists Network on Generations (JNG), founded in 1993, publishes Generations Beat Online News (GBONews.org). JNG provides information and networking opportunities for journalists covering generational issues, but not those representing services, products or lobbying agendas. Copyright 2020 JNG. For more information contact GBO Editor Paul Kleyman.
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