2021/08/03 - Telling it like it is: what older people told us about their experience of Covid-19, and what Ireland should do about it
“I can’t meet my friends, I can’t go to the beach, I’m tied to the house. Loneliness and isolation, it’s cruel.”
“I never felt old until this year... Now I am made to feel my age as vulnerable and dependent.”
“We can’t do anything... We are locked up! Locked in! Locked out!”
“We cannot carry on losing valuable time. At our ages, our time is limited.”
• Older people died disproportionately. Frequently their end-of-life wishes were not sought or honoured. Dying with dignity is the hallmark of a decent society.
• Older people were bereaved disproportionately. Restrictions on funerals, bereavement and consolation caused deep distress that will reverberate for a long time.
• Older people’s independence and decision-making agency was reduced disproportionately. Life became a series of instructions from others.
• Most older people felt that underlying ageism was heightened – that they were being “cancelled”.
• Older people in nursing homes became subject to what was ‘allowed’ and ‘permitted’ within their own homes.
• Older people whose relatives and friends lived in care settings were unable to visit them properly for months. The restrictions, however justified, caused enormous distress.
• Older people living in their own homes felt frightened into isolation, which weighed particularly hard on those who live alone
• Older people being told that they were no longer able to participate in voluntary work felt like their contribution was unrecognised and undervalued.
• The pandemic exposed the precarious and often inequitable nature of home care provision• There was a deep frustration of precious time lost which cannot be regained.