October 27, 2020 – Winnipeg Free Press
Pandemic highlights widespread societal ageism
By: Ben Waldman
Toronto-based, Winnipeg-born physician and geriatrician Dr. Nathan Stall, who is currently studying toward a PhD in clinical epidemiology.
"To label it as ‘unavoidable’ really is an attitude we refer to as therapeutic nihilism," he said. "If you start with the premise that nothing you do matters, it becomes easier to justify doing nothing."
Stall’s study of care-home outbreaks in Ontario and Quebec during the pandemic’s first wave showed pre-pandemic conditions played a major role in how the virus spread: non-profit homes had smaller and less deadly outbreaks than for-profit ones, and matters such as sanitation and design standards — ventilation, efforts to reduce crowding — contributed significantly to resident safety.