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The Covid epidemic laid bare two major structural issues.\xa0 First, Black and Latinx persons experienced much higher rates of mortality than other groups.\xa0 Second, as we discussed in last week\u2019s podcast, older adults, particularly those in nursing homes, were far more likely to die than younger individuals.\xa0 These are structural issues because the fundamental causes of these issues were not biological issues, they were social.\xa0 These worse outcomes were not due to differences in genes, they are due to structural racism and ageism.\xa0

In today\u2019s podcast we talk about the intersection of racism and ageism.\xa0 We use the Covid pandemic and lack of diversity in trials for recently approved Alzheimer\u2019s drugs aducanumab and (to a lesser extent) lecanemab as springboards for discussion.\xa0 Our guests Tim Farrell, Ramona Rhodes, and Nancy Lunderbjerg wrote an article in JAGS on this issue, and Sharon Brangman wrote a separate JAGS article on the need to achieve diversity in study populations. In a third piece, Ramona Rhodes wrote about efforts to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion at JAGS (in the journal itself, including content and editorial leadership).\xa0 The article was titled, \u201cChange is coming\u201d - which also gives you a hint as to today\u2019s song request.

One final note: at the start of today\u2019s podcast we thank one of our generous donors, Meg Wallhagen, and ask her why she donated to GeriPal.\xa0 A prior guest on GeriPal, Meg is a tireless advocate and researcher for hearing impairment issues affecting older adults.\xa0 She has a study that is open to recruitment for any adult - hearing impaired or not - please see the blurb below to learn more and participate.

Enjoy!

-@Alex Smith

From Meg Wallhagen: The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) now allows hearing aids to be sold Over-the-Counter (OTC-HAs) to adults with mild to moderate hearing loss. We \u2013 Meg Wallhagen from UCSF and Nick Reed from John Hopkins University - are interested to learn what people like you know about OTC-HAs and if you would consider buying them. The survey should only take about 10-20 minutes to complete.\xa0If you are willing to consider taking the survey, please click on the following link to learn more.\xa0 https://ucsf.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9ZbReHYH72m82gK