In 2001, the first major read that awoke my consciousness further onto the global social issues of an aging society was a book titled Longevity Revolution by Theodore Roszak. Nearly twenty years later, I still find smart ideas, futuristic perspectives, small and rich gems from Roszak, that suddenly over this last two weeks have become more pertinent.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, I returned to his chapter six – The Compassionate Economy.
“The more compassionately gifted people we have employed full-time as caregivers, the more socially influential their qualities will become.”
Did we have to learn that point the hard way, that this pandemic has asked us to appreciate what said Roszak – prophetically?
The news of deaths in Long-Term Care and Retirement residences reached a horrid high point over this past Easter weekend.
Hard to imagine that I can add any more words to express the grief and anger over all this, so at this point I will draw attention to three better well-written pieces, which I encourage you to read. I am no expert, but twice in the last twenty years, I have experienced the ins and outs of the Long-Term Care system and written enough about the many social and structural and design pieces that needed attention, only to find that these have now become more serious. This is the wake-up call.
First is a letter, written and published this very day by three prominent leaders in the aging and longevity space: COVID-19 Exposing Historic Shortfalls in Long-Term Care – Margaret Gillis, President, International Longevity Centre, Canada; Dr. Jane Barratt, Secretary General, International Federation on Ageing; Laura Tamblyn Watts, CEO, CanAge.
After reading that piece, turn your attention to two constructive blog posts by Sue Lantz at Collaborative Aging. Lantz’s post from April 7th – Compassion in the Time of COVID-19 is what circled me back again to Theodore Roszak’s chapter on the Compassionate Economy and on April 13, her post – Priorities in the Time of COVID-19 neatly brings things full circle to the Gillis, Barratt, Tamblyn Watts letter.
As I gather my thoughts for next post let me leave with another thought from Roszak. “In the twenty-first century, geriatric care may take the place of high tech as the unfolding frontier of opportunity.”
Wachet auf, ruft uns die stimme! Awake, the voice is calling us! Philipp Nicolai, 1599