Ageism in COVID-Related Newspaper Coverage: The First Month of a Pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: Media sources have consistently described older adults as a medically vulnerable population during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, yet a lack of concern over their health and safety has resulted in dismissal and devaluation. This unprecedented situation highlights ongoing societal ageism and its manifestations in public discourse. This analysis asks how national news sources performed explicit and implicit ageism during the first month of the pandemic. METHOD: Using content and critical discourse analysis methods, we analyzed 287 articles concerning older adults and COVID-19 published between March 11 and April 10, 2020, in 4 major U.S.-based newspapers. RESULTS: Findings indicate that while ageism was rarely discussed explicitly, ageist bias was evident in implicit reporting patterns (e.g., frequent use of the term "elderly," portrayals of older adults as "vulnerable"). Infection and death rates and institutionalized care were among the most commonly reported topics, providing a limited portrait of aging during the pandemic. The older "survivor" narrative offers a positive alternative by suggesting exceptional examples of resilience and grit. However, the survivor narrative may also implicitly place blame on those unable to survive or thrive in later life. DISCUSSION: This study provides insight for policy makers, researchers, and practitioners exploring societal perceptions of older adults and how these perceptions are disseminated and maintained by the media.

Anti-intellectualism and the mass public's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anti-intellectualism (the generalized distrust of experts and intellectuals) is an important concept in explaining the public's engagement with advice from scientists and experts. We ask whether it has shaped the mass public's response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We provide evidence of a consistent connection between anti-intellectualism and COVID-19 risk perceptions, social distancing, mask usage, misperceptions and information acquisition using a representative survey of 27,615 Canadians conducted from March to July 2020. We exploit a panel component of our design (N = 4,910) to strongly link anti-intellectualism and within-respondent change in mask usage. Finally, we provide experimental evidence of anti-intellectualism's importance in information search behaviour with two conjoint studies (N ~ 2,500) that show that preferences for COVID-19 news and COVID-19 information from experts dissipate among respondents with higher levels of anti-intellectual sentiment. Anti-intellectualism poses a fundamental challenge in maintaining and increasing public compliance with expert-guided COVID-19 health directives.

Female Representation and Position Based on Facts and Members Views in the European Society of Coloproctology.

BACKGROUND: There is wide variation in gender distribution in colorectal surgery across different European countries. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate female representation, implicit bias, and members' perception on female participation and representation at the European Society of Coloproctology 2017 annual scientific meeting. DESIGN: This was a retrospective mixed-methods cross-sectional observational study. SETTINGS: The study was conducted using data from the 2017 European Society of Coloproctology annual scientific meeting program and attendees. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measure was the percentage of female speakers in the formal program and assessment for implicit bias. Secondary outcomes were the percentage of women attending the conference, the percentage of women serving on committees, and the results of the online survey. METHODS: Female representation was retrospectively quantified by role, session type, and topic. Implicit bias was measured classifying the introductions of speakers by moderators as formal (using a professional title) or informal (using name only), then further stratified by gender. An online survey was disseminated and analyzed to investigate the members' perception as a benchmark analysis. RESULTS: Disparities were found between sexes, with fewer women attending the conference (25%), serving as session chairs (8%), speakers (21%), and on committees (10%) compared with men. There were no differences across sexes regarding the formal or informal introduction. The survey among our members showed that significantly fewer women felt equally endorsed within the society compared with men (33% versus 63%; p < 0.001). LIMITATIONS: The retrospective design with data available to be analyzed was limited by the sessions recorded (27/49) and survey respondents (28%). CONCLUSIONS: Female representation within European Society of Coloproctology as chair, speaker, attendee, and committee member was much lower than male representation, both in absolute numbers and relative to membership. Greater awareness of this disparity and inclusiveness are aims of our society. The impact of these initiatives will be determined by reevaluating these metrics at the 2020 annual meeting. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/B384. REPRESENTACIN Y POSICIN FEMENINA EN LA SOCIEDAD EUROPEA DE COLOPROCTOLOGA BASADA EN LOS HECHOS Y LAS OPINIONES DE SUS MIEMBROS: ANTECEDENTES:Existe una amplia variabilidad en la distribución de géneros en la cirugía colorrectal en los diferentes países de Europa.OBJETIVO:Evaluar la representación femenina, el sesgo implícito y la percepción de los miembros sobre la participación y representación femenina en el 12° Congreso científico anual de la Sociedad Europea de Coloproctología.DESIGN:Este fué un estudio observacional retrospectivo de métodos mixtos transversales.AJUSTES:Los análisis se realizaron utilizando los datos del programa cintífico de la reunión y los datos de los presentes en el Congreso de la ESCP en 2017.MEDIDAS PRINCIPALES DE RESULTADOS:La principal medida en el resultado fue el porcentaje de disertantes femeninas en el programa definitivo y la evaluación del sesgo implícito. Los resultados secundarios fueron el porcentaje de mujeres que asistieron a la conferencia, trabajaron en los comités y los resultados de la encuesta informática.METODOS:La representación femenina se cuantificó retrospectivamente según el rol, tipo de sesión y temas. Se midió el sesgo implícito clasificando las introducciones de los disertantes por parte de los moderadores de manera formal (usando un título profesional) o informal (usando solamente el nombre), y luego fueron estratificadas por género. Se difundió y analizó una encuesta informática para investigar la percepción de los miembros como análisis de referencia.RESULTADOS:Se encontraron disparidades de género, con menos mujeres presentes en la conferencia (25%), obrando como presidentes de sesión (8%), como disertantes (21%) y como miembros de comités (10%) comparadas con los hombres. No hubo diferencia entre sexos con respecto a la introducción formal o informal. La encuesta informática entre los miembros mostró significativamente que menos mujeres se sentían respaldadas igualitariamente dentro de la sociedad comparadas con los hombres (33% frente a 63%, p<0.001).LIMITACIONES:Diseño retrospectivo de datos limitados a las sesiones grabadas (27/49) y a los encuestados (28%) disponibles para el análisis.CONCLUSIONES:La representación femenina dentro de la Sociedad Europea de Coloproctología como presidente, disertante, asistente ó como miembro del comité fué mucho menor que la representación masculina, tanto en números absolutos como en relación con la membresía. Crear una mayor conciencia de esta disparidad de inclusión son prioridad en nuestra sociedad. El impacto de estas iniciativas se determinará re-evaluando estas variables en reuniones futuras. Consulte Video Resumen en http://links.lww.com/DCR/B384.

Aging Narratives Over 210 Years (1810-2019).

OBJECTIVES: The World Health Organization launched a recent global campaign to combat ageism, citing its ubiquity and insidious threat to health. The historical context that promoted this pernicious threat is understudied, and such studies lay the critical foundation for designing societal-level campaigns to combat it. We analyzed the trend and content of aging narratives over 210 years across multiple genres-newspaper, magazines, fiction, nonfiction books-and modeled the predictors of the observed trend. METHOD: A 600-million-word dataset was created from the Corpus of Historical American English and the Corpus of Contemporary American English to form the largest structured historical corpus with over 150,000 texts from multiple genres. Computational linguistics and statistical techniques were applied to study the trend, content, and predictors of aging narratives. RESULTS: Aging narratives have become more negative, in a linear fashion (p = .003), over 210 years. There are distinct shifts: From uplifting narratives of heroism and kinship in the 1800s to darker tones of illness, death, and burden in the 1900s across newspapers, magazines, and nonfiction books. Fiction defied this trend by portraying older adults positively through romantic courtship and war heroism. Significant predictors of ageism over 210 years are the medicalization of aging, loss of status, warmth, competence, and social ostracism. DISCUSSION: Though it is unrealistic to reverse the course of ageism, its declining trajectory can be ameliorated. Our unprecedented study lay the groundwork for a societal-level campaign to tackle ageism. The need to act is more pressing given the Covid-19 pandemic where older adults are constantly portrayed as vulnerable.

Young people's views on their role in the COVID-19 pandemic and society's recovery from it.

OBJECTIVE: There has been little formal exploration of how young people see their role in the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN/SETTING: Focus-group discussion with 15 Children's Hospital Young People's Forum members (23/5) to explore their perspective on the impact of COVID-19 on both their lives and those of their community, on school closures, and the role they wished to play in society's recovery from the pandemic. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim using NVivo Software and analysed using an inductive thematic analysis approach. OUTCOME: Four major themes identified: (1) Awareness of pandemic's impact on others: participants showed mature awareness of the effects on broader society, especially the elderly, socially disadvantaged and parents. (2) Perceived impact on their own lives: principal concerns were the educational and practical repercussions of school closures and social isolation, including effects on educational prospects. (3) Views about school reopening: young people understood the broader rationale for school reopening and were generally positive about it, but expressed concerned about their safety and that of others. (4) Communication issues: a need for clear, concise, understandable information readily accessible for young people was expressed. Up to now, they felt passive recipients rather than participants. CONCLUSION: Young people were concerned about their future, their family and broader society, consistent with a high level of moral development. They want to be active participants in social recovery, including concepts around return to school but require appropriate information and a means by which their voices can be heard. The alternative suggested roles as pawns or pathfinders were discounted.