• Sarah Fraser, Martine Lagacé, Bienvenu Bongué, Ndatté Ndeye, Jessica Guyot, Lauren Bechard, Linda Garcia, Vanessa Taler, CCNA Social Inclusion and Stigma Working Group, Stéphane Adam, Marie Beaulieu, Caroline D Bergeron, Valérian Boudjemadi, Donatienne Desmette, Anna Rosa Donizzetti, Sophie Éthier, Suzanne Garon, Margaret Gillis, Mélanie Levasseur, Monique Lortie-Lussier, Patrik Marier, Annie Robitaille, Kim Sawchuk, Constance Lafontaine, and Francine Tougas.
• Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario KIN6N5, Canada.
• Age Ageing. 2020 Aug 24; 49 (5): 692-695.

AbstractThe goal of this commentary is to highlight the ageism that has emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 20 international researchers in the field of ageing have contributed to this document. This commentary discusses how older people are misrepresented and undervalued in the current public discourse surrounding the pandemic. It points to issues in documenting the deaths of older adults, the lack of preparation for such a crisis in long-term care homes, how some 'protective' policies can be considered patronising and how the initial perception of the public was that the virus was really an older adult problem. This commentary also calls attention to important intergenerational solidarity that has occurred during this crisis to ensure support and social-inclusion of older adults, even at a distance. Our hope is that with this commentary we can contribute to the discourse on older adults during this pandemic and diminish the ageist attitudes that have circulated.© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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