COVID-19, Social Distancing, and an Ethic of Care: Rethinking Later-Life Care in the U.S.

Simple item page
Author(s)Kim, Nari
Author(s)Naylor, Lindsay
Date Accessioned2022-04-06T15:26:28Z
Date Available2022-04-06T15:26:28Z
Publication Date2021-12-16
DescriptionThis article was originally published in ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies. The version of record is available at: https://acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/2094en_US
AbstractIn 2020, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disrupted life around the globe. In the United States, governors issued state of emergency orders and mandated shelter-in-place and social distancing measures. While these measures are important, they ignore the nuances of risk for vulnerable groups, such as older adults. Moreover, social distancing measures made more visible the reality that many patients in care homes often die in isolation. In this commentary, we argue that a rethinking of later-life care is necessary and to understand this need, that critical geographers should expand on how we evaluate care. Here we start from a space of radical care ethics to examine the emotional experience of place and the role it should play in how we think about later-life care. Reflecting on state-mandated social distancing, we show that the current system of geriatric care in the United States does not promote dignified living for older adults and how older adults’ complex emotions are ignored in current later-life care. We conclude by recommending that the emotional experiences of place must be taken into consideration for scholars examining place-based later-life care of older adults.en_US
CitationKim, N., & Naylor, L. (2021). COVID-19, Social Distancing, and an Ethic of Care. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 21(1), 65-80. Retrieved from https://acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/2094en_US
ISSN1492-9732
URLhttps://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/30753
Languageen_USen_US
PublisherACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographiesen_US
KeywordsSocial distancingen_US
Keywordsisolationen_US
Keywordsemotionsen_US
Keywordscare ethicsen_US
KeywordsU.S. eldercareen_US
TitleCOVID-19, Social Distancing, and an Ethic of Care: Rethinking Later-Life Care in the U.S.en_US
TypeArticleen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
COVID-19, Social Distancing, and an Ethic of Care.pdf
Size:
921.56 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Main article
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.22 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Open Access Publications