COVID in the House of Old is releasing new 2024 podcast episodes that give voice to individuals on the front lines of eldercare facilities.
We are proud to present the first of four “Stories from Wikwemikong Nursing Home” to mark National Indigenous Peoples Day 2024. These episodes are co-hosted by Megan Davies and Darrel Manitowabi and produced by Kohen Hammond.
Episodes two, three and four of “Stories from Wikwemikong Nursing Home” will be released on 30 September 2024, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
We acknowledge the partnership of Wikwemikong Nursing Home residents, staff, and families in creating these podcasts and the support of the Wiikwemkoong Band Council, Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory. Miigwech.
“Stories from Christie Gardens,” explores Toronto’s Christie Garden’s care home – its history, unique approach, COVID’s impacts, and the work of memory. This episode is funded by the Christie Gardens Foundation.
In fall 2021 host Megan J. Davies talked to an eclectic cast of characters: a journalist who set out to keep a tally of the deaths and ended up a Go-Fund-Me star, a nurse in charge of infection control at Toronto’s largest public care facility, a resident who rebelled against being shut inside, a gerontologist who was born in an old age home, a sociologist who has spent a decade searching for the best in eldercare, and a public artist committed to moving grief out of the Kleenex box and into the community. Released in early 2022, these episodes review the pandemic’s first 20 months and delve into a cornucopia of eldercare issues.
Why a podcast about communities of old people that most of us never see as we go about our busy lives out in the world? Because COVID-19 made Canada the ultimate grim reaper among the nations of the Global North, with 82% of our first-wave deaths vulnerable elderly residents of long-term care facilities. So, yes, you do need to know more about this.
Available here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeart, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, PodBean.