"Shouldn’t we be
moving from the concept of self-care to a broader, more inclusive notion of
collective care?...
While looking after
yourself is great, self-care is still an idea rooted in a neoliberal tradition
of looking out for ourselves, rather than seeing ourselves, our health and our
fates as inextricably linked to our fellow human beings.
Wouldn’t it be
great if this decade we took the self out of self-care and
strived instead for communal care?
Self-care is
saying “I need to look after me”, while collective self-care is saying “we need
to look after each other”…
Communal care
can include things like being a better neighbour, making yourself available for
people who may need support, communities supporting each other emotionally and
practically during crises such as the bushfires, to larger, more macro reforms
and structural changes in society, such as advocating for universal health
care, …”—Brigid Delaney, “We need to move on from self-care to something that cannot be captured by capitalism,” The Guardian, Jan. 30, 2020
Self-care is so passé
from last decade of 2010s, something Millennials may have absorbed from Boomer
parents who came of age during the narcissistic Me Decade of the 1970s? Millennials and Boomers continue to be divided, with the former calling the 2019 novel
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) “boomer remover” (referring to higher mortality
among older adults infected with coronavirus), and accusing each other of
ignoring public health guidance.
Seems this neoliberal
pursuit of self-interest motivated governments in framing their response to the
rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic as a binary choice between saving vulnerable
human lives and “saving the economy”? U.S. Senators were quick to engage in
insider trading, selling off holdings in retail stores and airlines, buying up Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE) and telework software companies.
"There's a
choice we're making,
We're saving our own lives,
It's true we'll make a better day, just you and me”
We're saving our own lives,
It's true we'll make a better day, just you and me”
--Michael
Jackson & Lionel Richie, “We Are the World” (1985)
Political
correctness (fear of racism charges) was blamed for Italy government’s slow
response to COVID-19. Notably, left-wing
Florence Mayor Dario Nardella began “Hug a Chinese” campaign on Twitter last
month, calling for “unity in this common battle,” and a video was posted
showing a street demonstration by Chinese (“I’m not a virus. I’m human.
Eradicate the prejudice.”) man wearing a face mask that is removed by a hugger!
Public health emergency => collective
care
In
response to the global COVID-19 threat first identified in Wuhan (China), San
Francisco Mayor London Breed encouraged supporting Chinatown business after she
declared a state of emergency on February 25 to mobilize resources (federal and
state reimbursement $) toward containment of any outbreak, and its proactive
Department of Public Health (DPH) had been monitoring people returning from
travel in China. Last month, experts were more concerned about flu outbreak while
monitoring COVID-19 situation (and
local news was preoccupied with ethics and bribery scandals involving SF Mayor
and her ex-boyfriend who resigned as Public Works Director after his FBI arrest). In late February, 79-year-old House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi did her “Come to Chinatown” trek, and I continued medical social work outreach
inside crowded single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels in Chinatown, in contrast to
the nearly empty streets outside due to fears of “Chinese virus” or “kung flu,” stigmatizing Chinese
or Asians, who seem to all look alike to the clueless. (WHO does not name diseases after animals and
places; Spanish flu did not originate in Spain, a neutral country that made news
of 1918 influenza epidemic public.)
While CDC has not recommended masks for the general public, many Chinese wear face masks out of communal concern, reducing stigma. Particularly in East Asia, face masks are worn for protection against virus outbreaks, air pollution, cold weather—and seen as part of people’s collective responsibility--dating back to 1911 when Cambridge-educated Dr. Lien-Teh Wu of the Chinese Imperial Court designed a breakthrough “anti-plague” mask, used worldwide and forerunner of N-95 mask. Pharos Global Health Advisors recommended wearing masks to help prevent face touching (potentially blocking coronavirus from entering mucous membranes in nose, throat, and eyes to cause infection).
Though
testing has been limited due to supply shortages, California Governor Newsom declared a state of emergency
on March 4 after a 75-year-old Californian man died from COVID-19 on Grand
Princess cruise ship. However, other
local and state governments were “business as usual” and much slower to
respond. 73-year-old President Trump and
Fox News treated situation like Pandumbic.
On
March 5, I was out and about, joining Senior & Disability Action’s SRO
Workgroup at a crowded City Hall demonstration for #30RightNow Rent Relief for
SRO Tenants. SF Mayor London Breed was
unavailable, so her Chief of Staff Sean Elsbernd met with us.
Last
summer, SRO tenant Jordan Davis went on a 21-day hunger strike that succeeded
in the City budgeting $1 million to Economic Hardship Fund for Masterlease
Tenants, a one-year pilot program to get City-leased SRO hotel rents down to
30% of tenants’ income. However, there
has been no implementation to date. Sean
committed to have a plan in two weeks…but SRO tenants like Jordan, who pay more
than half their income towards rent, are still waiting for rent relief. (Four days later, SF Mayor announced that City
would spend $5 million for “roving cleaning teams” to better protect seniors
living in SRO hotels and shelters from coronavirus.)
While
visiting supervisors’ offices, Supervisor Aaron Peskin’s Chief of Staff Sunny
Angulo said Supervisor was unavailable because he was on the phone negotiating
to keep Princess Cruise luxury ship’s 3,000 passengers and crew—some infected
with coronavirus—from docking in San Francisco.
Protecting vulnerable
After
attending this crowded gathering with Senior & Disability Action, DPH announced
two SF residents (including man in his 90s, with underlying health conditions)
tested positive for COVID-19 and issued “aggressive recommendations” for
“social distancing” meant to “disrupt normal social behavior” to reduce
community spread of coronavirus: “vulnerable
populations” (age 60+ and people with heart/lung/kidney disease, diabetes, and
weakened immune systems) should “stay home as much as possible,” and general
public should “cut back on the time you spend with groups.” Oops!
As
it turns out, we are all vulnerable because COVID-19 is equal opportunity: it
does not discriminate by age, race or income/wealth. Anecdotal evidence suggested that racial
minorities and people with less wealth do not have equal access to COVID-19
testing. California law requires equal access to healthcare services, but COVID-19 made healthcare rationing
inevitable as elective surgeries were suspended. And people who do visit hospitals for medical
emergencies risk exposure to coronavirus.
Doctors
from Bergamo—considered epicenter of Italy’s COVID-19 epidemic—recommended adoption
of community-centered care, reserving hospitalization for severe cases (versus
patient-centered care in U.S.), strict containment measures and inclusion of
social scientists addressing pandemic, which is a public health and humanitarian
crisis, to prevent rationing in overwhelmed hospitals with shortages (PPE, ICU
beds, ventilators, etc.):
"The situation here is dismal as
we operate well below our normal standard of care. Wait times for an intensive
care bed are hours long. Older patients are not being resuscitated and die
alone without appropriate palliative care, while the family is notified over
the phone, often by a well-intentioned, exhausted, and emotionally depleted
physician with no prior contact."—Physicians in Papa Giovanni XXIII
Hospital in Bergamo, “Dire warning from Italian doctors: How U.S. can avoid COVID-19 disaster,” quoted from New England Journal of Medicine in SFGate,
Mar. 25, 2020
SF Bay Area health departments have been reluctant to release data on race and location of COVID-19 cases, fearing this could heighten discrimination against certain communities where there might be clusters (two or more cases that appear to be connected). The first cases in the Bay Area were among ethnic Chinese residents returning from trips to China. According to WHO and CDC, coronavirus is believed to be spread during close contact and by respiratory droplets produced when people cough, sneeze or exhale, so it was troubling when media reported spitting incidents here in streets of SF, including racially motivated spitting on a Chinese-American woman.
Thus
far, SF has prioritized protecting the “most vulnerable” from coronavirus: older adults and
people with underlying health conditions, people living in congregate settings
(nursing home/assisted living facilities, cruise ships, SROs, shelters, prisons)
and people experiencing homelessness (but SF police continue sweeps, forcing unhoused to “move along”
instead of supporting their ability to “shelter in place”). Risk factors like underlying health conditions and living in congregate
settings are influenced by social determinants including income, education,
access to wholesome food, occupational safety. COVID-19 pandemic has exposed
our broken systems perpetrating health inequities, with disproportionate
impacts on old people.
Nursing
homes, with their high concentration of the elderly and chronically ill, have
been ground zero for coronavirus clusters. Life Care, a for-profit nursing home in
Kirkland, Washington, became the nation’s epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite a 5-star rating at CMS Nursing Home Compare, it reportedly held a Mardi Gras “germ fest” party leading to an outbreak
that has killed at least 37 residents and visitors to date. Since then, old people have been in the news daily in connection with
COVID-19.
Ageism?
After COVID-19
outbreak at Life Care, responses to protect old people in nursing homes was
quick with lockdowns, and soon Governor Newsom calling for seniors age 65+ and
people with underlying medical conditions to stay home for their protection—almost
like an “othering” (stigmatizing?) old people as frail and vulnerable to disease—upending
#endageismsf campaign
efforts to downplay “vulnerable” feature of older people?
Shortly
after Governor’s directive and after one SFSU employee was diagnosed with
COVID-19, SFSU President ordered that all SFSU employees meeting the Governor’s
criteria “must stay off campus.” Whoa, many SFSU faculty appear 65+! Fortunately, SFSU President had foresight to suspend
face-to-face classes and transition to remote instruction effective March 16.
The Supreme Court postponed hearing cases to protect the health of justices, many
of whom are most at-risk for COVID-19 given their older age and underlying
health conditions. Six of the nine
justices are 65 or older, with the oldest Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at age 87
and survivor of multiple cancers.
Yet, not all
seniors stayed home waiting for grocery deliveries, as we saw infectious
disease experts old enough and experienced (crystallized intelligence!) with
HIV/AIDS pandemic to provide their calm voices of reason: 79-year-old Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); 68-year-old Dr. Robert
Redfield, Director of CDC; and 63-year-old Dr. Deborah Birx,
White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator.
While politicians spin
their narratives of hope, I prefer to fast forward listening to the calm
delivery of data-driven public health experts like Drs. Fauci, Mark Ghaly
(California Health & Human Agency Secretary and pediatrician) and Grant
Colfax (SF DPH Director and AIDS expert).
One exception was waking up to hear long-winded Governor Gavin Newsom scolding (social distance shaming) young people (presumably under 25 with
not yet fully developed brains to behave responsibly):
“Assume that you are potentially
contagious and act accordingly, socially distance yourself from others. Just use common sense. Be a good neighbor, be a good citizen. Those young people still out there on the
beaches thinking this is a party, time to grow up, time to wake up. Time to recognize it’s not just about the old
folks. It’s about your impact on their lives.
Don’t be selfish. Recognize you
have a responsibility to meet this moment as well.”—California Governor Gavin
Newsom, Mar. 21, 2020 (video at 13:30)
When
Kaiser Health News journalist Judith Graham asked, “Should everyone over 60 take the same coronavirus precautions?” geriatricians responded this depends
on individual’s state of health; for example, St. Louis geriatrician John Morley considers
increased risk if person is FRAIL (Fatigue;
Resistance problems – Cannot walk up a flight of stairs; Aerobic
problems – Cannot walk a block; Illnesses – Greater than 5; Loss
of 5% or more of weight in six months). UCSF geriatrician Carla Perissinotto
replied, “I don’t think it’s as simple as ‘Don’t go out’ for all older adults.
Social contact is still really important.
If you’re healthy and over 60, with prudence, hand hygiene and being
aware of your surroundings, you should still be able to go about some
activities,” while maintaining a safe distance.
Hardy 102-year-old Italia Gordona, survivor of Spanish Flu, recovered
from COVID-19 after her 20-day hospital stay in Italy.
Tent
encampments on Taylor Street sidewalk in bustling Tenderloin provide shelter to
some of 8,000 unhoused people in SF.
Unhoused survive on streets, challenged with access to enable proper
hygiene and physical distancing. Being outdoors in Tenderloin = exposure to
lots of smoking. Scottish microbiologist
claimed coronavirus transmitted via blowing out e-cig vapor = being spat on face, but UCSF docs disputed
this unless the e-cig user coughs when exhaling – ahem, highly likely smokers
cough to clear polluted airways!
Mobile
Health meets people where they are outside Glide in Tenderloin, helping to
reduce unnecessary movements. Glide closed over one weekend for deep cleaning after
suspected COVID-19 outbreak.
Patient
Safety Awareness Week
“Flatten the curve” efforts include hygiene and safety measures to avoid overwhelming hospitals and forcing healthcare rationing. This year’s Patient Safety Awareness Week was observed on March 8-14, with UCSF nurses demonstrating over understaffing and lack of PPE: "When Nurses Aren't Safe, Patients Aren't Safe" rally.
Bad enough that
there’s a global shortage of PPE, but what about higher wages/hazard pay and benefits
for frontline workers who sacrifice their own health and safety? CDC
found patient safety at LifeCare was compromised by nursing home staff who
worked while sick and without PPE, helping to spread coronavirus in a controlled
environment. The reality is some essential workers in the healthcare sector cannot
afford to stay home if sick, especially if they do not have paid sick leave.
Last
week, SF DPH’s 780-bed Laguna Honda Hospital & Rehab Center was placed in
lockdown due to COVID-19 outbreak, yet another patient safety scandal after
last year’s elder abuse. The American Bar Association warned that isolation, quarantine and lock
downs may increase risk factors for elder abuse, neglect and exploitation.
On
March 13, CMS seemed to increase risk for isolation and elder abuse when it ordered
nursing homes to restrict in-person visitors—including LTC ombudspeople!—and cancel
communal dining and group activities. After this, ombudspeople continued their resident advocacy work by
turning to telephone and other technology, limiting their ability to
investigate complaints.
After
Patient Safety Week, California DPH appeared to add more risk to nursing home
population by notifying nursing homes to prepare to accept and care for
patients with coronavirus! Los Angeles County DPH went further, telling nursing home administrators
that they cannot refuse to take COVID-positive patients! California Department of Social Services officials told adult and
senior-living facility inspectors not to wear gloves or masks during site
visits because supplies were low and donning the equipment might unnecessarily
“scare” residents!
Housing = healthcare = privilege?
With
SF’s “shelter in place” order, suddenly COVID-19 appeared not to be just about
old people but all of us. As routines
were disrupted, longstanding inequities in our dysfunctional systems were
exposed in this public health crisis that has forced government action to
flatten the curve. Quarantining people
who have been disadvantaged by ageism, ableism, racism and poverty does not
merely save lives of disenfranchised people, but prevents hospitals from being
overwhelmed by catastrophic surges in emergency care (and hospitals are
prohibited from denying emergency care, thanks to Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act of 1986).
“Shelter
in place” is a privilege. In this
pandemic, suddenly government was forced to respond: Where do unhoused people
“shelter in place”? What if “shelter in place” is not safe for households that
experience domestic violence, exacerbated by isolation from school closures and
financial stressors from being furloughed as “non-essential worker” who is
unable to work from home? What supports are available for people who have
mental/substance use disorders that make it challenging for them to follow
“shelter in place” orders and practice good hygiene? How does one maintain
physical distancing of at least 6 feet in SROs, shelters and prisons?
What
do multigenerational households make of advice from UCSF pediatrician Dr. Lisa Dana: “The best way you can keep your grandparents alive is to Facetime with
them or give them a call. Do not visit them. That visit could be a death
sentence.”
California
Governor and SF officials began leasing vacant hotels with plans to house vulnerable
people. SF Mayor stated intention to
prioritize moving seniors and people with disabilities in SROs into hotels with
private bath and delivered meals.
However, SF Human Services Director’s plan to move homeless people (half
of SF homeless are age 50+) into shelters was clearly at odds with SF Health Officer
Dr. Tomas Aragon, who recommended moving homeless people into private rooms
from a disease prevention perspective.
Meanings
SF
DPH posters provided clearer communication than City officials and other media
on interventions:
·
“Shelter in place” (used in SF order makes me think of alternative to evacuation during a disaster) v. stay at home (CA order used clearer language)
·
What
age is a senior? Age 60+ (SF) v. Age 65+(CA)
·
Social
v. physical distancing - latter more accurately captured intention to maintain
6 feet distance
With
schools closed and a statewide stay-at-home order in place except for essential
workers, SF libraries have been repurposed as emergency care centers for
children K to 8th grade to support first responders, healthcare
workers and “essential” City employees. But what about workers who care for elderly
parents at risk?
This stay-at-home directive
was nothing new for people permanently shut-in due to certain disabilities. But now homebound clients fearful of coronavirus
transmission refused assistance from home health aides—as potentially unwitting
asymptomatic vectors—coming into their homes. According
to CDC, nearly half of U.S. coronavirus patients in intensive care are under 65, but death rates still higher for older adults.
Finally,
during March 23 COVID-19 update, SF Mayor announced first virtual press conference to
demonstrate by example social distancing—just one speaker at a time on stage, with ASL
interpreter maintaining at least 6 feet distance. (CDC guidance advises 6 feet distance from other people, which is double the 3 feet distance recommended by WHO.)
Dr. Colfax provided
this memorable line: “Let us stay apart as we stand together.”
“No one reached out to me and said, as
a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance for your survival in
exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and
grandchildren? And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in.” –Texas Lt. Governor Dan
Patrick, 69-year-old Boomer with heart disease, “Dan Patrick says he is willing to risk his own life to allow economy to resume,” SFGate, Mar. 24, 2020
One
has to wonder about the impact of ageism, relegating the role of older adults
to stay home for their protection, and searching for deeper purpose in life like
Dying4WallStreet because the "cure can't be worse than the disease"? Essential workers are exceptions to
stay-at-home order, and people of all ages need a reason to get up in the
morning. Like the 4,500 retired nurses and doctors who signed on to rejoin National Health Service (NHS) in the UK
within 48 hours in response to “Your NHS Needs You” to fight COVID-19, over
25,000 healthcare professionals (including retirees within the last five years
who could reinstate their licenses) applied to California Health Corps less
than 24 hours after Governor Newsom’s announcement for COVID-19 emergency
medical staffing roles.
Practicing wellness
I have learned from my shut-in clients how to be a great
indoors person, and have practiced being an intentional shut-in, turning to my favorite solitary/wellness
activities of reflective daydreaming, reading, walking, cooking, listening to
music, and sometimes my own choreography.
Boomer tunes inspire
coronavirus musical parodies
79-year-old Neil
Diamond, who retired from touring two years ago due to Parkinson’s, made us
feel better with his fire-side singing “Sweet Caroline” (1969) into Coronavirus PSA: “Hands / Washing hands / Reaching out / Don’t touch me / I won’t touch you…”
Old people were included
in lyrics of coronavirus musical parodies.
·
Boomer Frank de Lima, who brought us Stayin’ Alive (the Hawaii Missile Threat),
shared his latest hit song Corona, Corona (sing to tune of Corrine, Corrina):
“Stay calm, don’t panic, gotta keep real cool/ Just take precautions,
especially our tutus.”
·
MyLifeSuckers sang
Self-quarantine (Diamond’s Sweet Caroline): “Tell my parents to be
good, don’t go outside/ Self-quarantine I won’t infect the neighborhood/
Self-quarantine this is for the greater good/ Self-quarantine to save our
humanhood.”
·
Maria
Wojciechowski sang Self-quarantine (ABBA’s Dancing Queen, 1976): “…don’t be that guy who’s like, ‘I
don’t care, I am 25’/ Time to face the music, everything’s not fine/ This is
the circumstance from New York to San Fran/ It’s time to self-quarantine, or we
will be worse than Italy…/Don’t take the chance, grandpa could die/ If you
don’t stay the hell inside/ Flu-uu, it’s not the flu, it’s COVID-19.”
·
Zac
Kessel sang I miss American life (McLean’s American Pie, 1971): “…And as the cases climb it gives us
fright/ Will all our parents be alright?/ We’ve just begun to fight the fight/
We must all stay inside/ We were singing bye bye, I miss American life… On
social media they were hoping/ And the seniors we admire most/ The ones who
will not read this post/ Protect them all from coast to coast/ These days we
all must hide …”
·
Luke
Murgatroyd sang I think we’re alone now (Tommy James & Shondells, 1967): “Not easy to hideaway for 20 nights/
But it means I won’t be deadly to the old folks that I meet and so that’s why/
I’m being alone now…”
·
Kiffness sang Yesterday (Beatles, 1965): “I can’t even see my mom
for 20 days / now I’m stuck at home with bills to pay...”
Boomers and Gen X are good at staying home, according to Holderness Family’s 1980s Guide to Quarantine (Boredom): phone, video games, hair, TV, music mix tape, dance.
Boomer/Gen X cellist Jan Vogler and Gen Z pianist Tiffany Poon hosted 24-hour
Music Never Sleeps NYC online concert with performers of all ages, which kept me up all night! Just
as musicians can perform without live audiences, so can “spectator sports”?!
Governor
Newsom announced statewide initiative, “Stay Home. Save Lives. Check In,” to
urge Californians “to help combat
social isolation and food insecurity among Californians who are over the age of
65– a community that is uniquely vulnerable to COVID-19.” 72-year-old Larry
David urged everyone to stay home in his PSA: “You’re hurting
old people like me. Well, not me... I’ll never see you.”
Start planning for the future: getting
old
“Never allow a crisis go to waste. Start planning for the future.”—Rahm Emanuel,
former Chief of Staff to President Obama (2009-10), “Rahm Emanuel reprises 'never let a crisis go to waste' catchphrase amid coronavirus pandemic,” Washington
Examiner, Mar. 24, 2020
After SF announced
extension of “shelter in place” at least through May 1, I wondered about any
lasting impact from this heightened awareness of our shared
vulnerabilities—live long enough and we will find ourselves old in all its rich
diversity of experiences. Living in this
state of emergency has forced rethinking priorities and underlying values: what
is truly “essential” to quality of life, that we are all interdependent, and
need to look out for one another through collective action to improve community
care, strengthen our safety net and bring about systems change. Some age-friendly developments:
·
Private
sector accommodating seniors for early morning shopping hours and free delivery of prescriptions
·
Expansion
of telehealth (phone, videoconference) to Medicare patients (previously limited
to only rural areas)
·
SF
government plan to house homeless, prioritizing most vulnerable seniors and
people with disabilities, into vacant hotels with private bath and wrap-around
services –how about next step for permanent supportive housing?
·
SF
government’s re-opening shuttered hospital, safety-net Seton Medical
Center, which served mostly older and low-income patients
·
Federal
government’s coronavirus stimulus check, almost like universal basic income?
This year’s Social
Work Month theme is Generations Strong! My planned groundbreaking research, Social Work
Interventions to Ease Nursing Home Relocation Stress, came to a halt with
the suspension of visits to nursing homes this month. Given uncertainty over this pandemic’s
duration, I began another research project to infuse aging content in MSW core
curricula. This is much needed when
considering that only 4% of social workers have completed specialized
geriatrics training even though 75% of social workers work with older adults,
according to Eldercare Workforce Alliance. Hope my effort will bring MSW training close to the “weeks” of geriatrics
training provided at medical schools.
“Medical schools devote months to
teaching students about child physiology and disease, and years to adults, but
just weeks to elders; geriatrics doesn’t even appear on the menu of required training. The
National Institutes of Health mandated the inclusion of women and people of
color in medical research in 1986, but it didn’t issue a similar mandate for
elders until 33 years later, in 2019….
Even though older people are far
more likely to die from it, until 2018, the California Department of Public
Health counted flu deaths only for children and adults under 65… The problem is
that when the impact of disease in a population is unknown, there’s little
incentive to develop treatments tailored to that group’s needs. When the
affected population is elders, the problem is especially bad: As we’ve already
seen with the current crisis, many people say that elders are dying
anyway and
tend to blame old age itself for their deaths—not a flawed system…
Everyone can help create a less
ageist culture and improve individual institutions. Aging experts like myself
are (for now, digitally) collaborating to devise elder-specific protocols for
managing COVID-19…”
--UCSF geriatrician Louise Aronson, “Ageism Is making the pandemic worse: The disregard for the elderly that’s woven into American culture is hurting everyone,” The Atlantic, Mar. 28, 2020
Woo-hoo! Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES
Act) included reauthorization of the federal geriatrics workforce
programs, the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) and the
Geriatrics Academic Career Award (GACA) at $40.7 million for five years!
COVID-19
pandemic led to cancellation of several annual gerontology/geriatrics
conferences: American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (March 13-16 in San Antonio), American Society on Aging’s Aging in
America (March 24-27 in Atlanta), Oregon State University’s Gerontology
Conference (April 1-2 in Corvallis), Berkeley Retirement Center’s Engage with Age (April
21), and American Geriatrics Society (May 6-9
in Long Beach). With time saved from
traveling, I am homeschooling (inspired by Dr. Colfax, whose parents wrote Homeschooling
for Excellence), working remotely, enduring Zoom meetings, and keeping up
with old people in daily news.
