How coronavirus is teaching us a lesson in moral philosophy – Susan Dalgety

We seem in awe of millionaire hedge-fund managers and narcissistic celebrities, while treating those who care for our loved ones with disdain. But Covid-19 may change attitudes, writes Susan Dalgety.

People over 60 are coping better with the lockdown than the young, according to a weekly social study of the virus.

The latest research, carried out by University College London (UCL), suggests that baby boomers – those of us born in the years following the Second World War – are better able to deal with the isolation and uncertainty than our children and grandchildren, even though we are most at risk of dying from Covid-19.

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It seems we are taking more exercise, complying more rigorously with the rules of lockdown, and have the highest levels of life satisfaction at the moment.

Those lazy afternoons spent watching Escape to the Country and Come Dine with Me, before uncorking the red wine at 6pm, were clearly not wasted. They were simply preparation for coping with the worst crisis our generation, any generation, has faced since 1945.

It is those aged between 30 and 59 who are the most stressed, which is hardly surprising. They have businesses to protect, children to teach, teenagers to entertain, mortgages to pay, careers on hold, jobs hanging by a shoogly nail. Every day they stay locked in their own homes is another day of uncertainty. Little wonder they are unsettled.

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Their lives were a pressure cooker before the pandemic, as they juggled work, parental responsibilities and, increasingly, the demands of ageing parents.

Many were stretched to breaking point, financially as well as emotionally, and the prospect of weeks, even months, of forced inactivity, may prove to be too much for some of them.

Our old world is gone

Nicola Sturgeon was right when she pointed out earlier this week that, as a nation, we will be dealing with the mental health legacy of the lockdown for a long time after we escape from house arrest.

Clare Haughey, the Minister for Mental Health, has a big job on her hands in the coming weeks and months. A former mental health nurse, she has intimate and practical knowledge of the adverse effect of poor mental health on individuals, families and communities.

Scotland has a ten-year Mental Health Strategy, which still has seven years to run. Speaking on the publication of the plan’s first progress report in 2018, Haughey said that her guiding ambition was to “prevent and treat mental health problems with the same commitment, passion and drive as we do with physical health problems. You should only have to ask once to get help fast.”

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Fine words, spoken from the heart. And the minister has already promised funding for urgent mental health services during the lockdown, but now she needs to start planning for the future. Rip up the strategy and start again.

Our old world has gone, destroyed by an invisible enemy. We have no idea what our new world will look like, but one thing is certain – the emotional impact of Sars-CoV-2 will hang around long after the virus has been defeated. We need to prepare now, not when the NHS is overwhelmed by an epidemic of anxiety and depression.

Under-valued and under-paid

And while they are about it, can I suggest that the Scottish Government also reviews how it delivers social care? The UCL survey may suggest that the over-60s are coping with the crisis better than any other age group, but that finding should come with a very large caveat.

The frail elderly who depend on social care, either in their own home or in a residential setting, are by far the biggest victims of coronavirus. And the biggest heroes are the army of women who care for them, for an hourly rate most people would not get out of bed for, let alone risk their lives.

But that is what 200,000 Scottish women do every day, getting on and off buses, walking between patients, rushing from sitting room to sitting room, caring for the vulnerable elderly that society would rather forget.

These are the women who change granny’s incontinence pads so we don’t have to; they make sure our auntie eats one warm meal a day, as we live too far away to help out; and listen to our grandad’s endless stories of dance halls and teddy boys, because there is no-one else to hear them.

Before the virus, they were largely ignored by society. Under-valued and under-paid. Only a few days ago, Scotland’s Chief Nursing Officer, Fiona McQueen, wrote that care workers did not need the same level of protection as their NHS colleagues.

The furore that ensued forced an uncharacteristic, but very welcome, apology from the Health Secretary Jeane Freeman, and a promise of full protection.

Build a better society

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But the mere fact that McQueen felt able draft such a letter is a reflection of how society views their contribution. They are our poorly paid skivvies, the working-class women who do the dirty work we can’t, or don’t want to.

Well, no more. We need to face up to the fact that we are all getting older. That if we live long enough, we will probably require a team of care workers to help us through our long day’s journey into night. That care workers are as essential to our well-being as doctors.

The work to integrate health and social care, which the Scottish Government embarked on six years ago, was a good starting point. But much more needs to be done, as a 2018 Audit Scotland report pointed out. It asserted that “all partners need to work together to be more honest and open about the changes that are needed to sustain health and care services in Scotland”.

So, let’s be honest and open. The virus has cruelly exposed how vulnerable we are, and how much of our economy is based on short-term, get-rich quick, forget-about-tomorrow thinking.

We value narcissistic celebrities and hedge fund millionaires – basically posh boys with a gambling habit – over the army of women who care for our loved ones while barely earning a living wage.

Work needs to start now, in the midst of the viral storm, to plan a better society and a more equal economy. And if that means those who can afford it have to invest more in their future through a social care insurance scheme, or an inheritance tax, then so be it. And a universal basic income must be seriously considered.

The virus is no respecter of class or position, as Boris Johnson has learned this week. But our post-viral society must properly value the contribution all of us make to our common well-being. A weekly round of applause for key workers is not enough.

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