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Battling Ageism in COVID-19 With Older Healthcare Workers

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Given the current conditions imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic and its effect on every establishment in the country, it’s much easier now to see the human race’s vulnerability.

Unlike other viruses that humanity has dealt with before, COVID-19 has exploited a much larger scope of how great the impact such situations is on people in terms of physical, mental, and economic struggles. Although everyone is affected by this unseen foe, it seems that older workers have experienced the greatest impact of the virus in full force, leading to an amplification of ageism.

The rise of ageism amid COVID-19

Among the demographics that have had their vulnerabilities exploited in innumerable ways, older workers have seen the greatest level of challenges by far.

With depleted savings, decreased opportunities for earnings, and increasing instances of forced retirement, it’s clear that older citizens face the highest number of risks amid the current pandemic. In fact, the presence of challenges has reached that point where ageism has become more prevalent than ever during COVID-19.

Healthcare centers and the challenges of hiring the elderly amid threats of COVID-19 

In the case of healthcare establishments looking to build their workforces to combat the steady increase of COVID-19 cases, hiring older workers may seem like a point of apprehension for most. Despite the prevalent notions of “ageism” amid the pandemic, hiring older professionals is a highly-beneficial move that healthcare establishments can make, especially comparing them to today’s millennials.

Here are a few reasons your establishment or partners need to avoid age discrimination in the hiring process and employ talented older workers at each opportunity: 

Benefit #1: Stable employment experiences

When it comes to workplace loyalty, older workers have been shown to trump over younger candidates in that regard because they have a more ingrained obligation towards their employers.

In the workplace dynamic, older professionals are seen as the establishment’s anchors because they have better mental health, higher maturity levels, and less absenteeism. All these benefits can quickly lead to fewer problems in the workforce for greater growth. If you want an increased level of employment stability and a better time handling healthcare work’s time-intensive nature, then it’s best to hire older adults.

Benefit #2: Higher propensity towards in-person work experiences

One of the most crucial advantages of seeking the help of older workers in a healthcare establishment is that they’re far more willing to work on-site.

As opposed to millennials, who are more particular towards working remotely, the traditionalism that older professionals stick to gives them a refined sense of determination to show up to offices and centers each day. Seeing that the number of people in ER rooms won’t go down anytime soon, there’s no need to worry because older workers are prepared to show up and strap their PPEs on to help you out! 

Conclusion

Although the pandemic has put together a narrative along the lines of older adults being the most vulnerable to the virus, this shouldn’t discount the fact that they’re much better fits for healthcare work. If you want to ensure that your establishment has all the quality help it needs to stay in order as it takes on more patients each day, employing older candidates is your best shot! 

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