Metropolitan areas in the U.S. face unprecedented challenges in the age of COVID-19, but Detroit is the site of a particularly unique issue. Older adults are dying sooner than their peers in other parts of Michigan.
To find out why, the Detroit Area Agency on Aging commissioned a study that spanned some 19 years. The newest addition to the study was released this week. A clear pattern has emerged: a lack of access to healthcare, chronic health conditions and systematic racism.
And now, the coronavirus pandemic is throwing fuel onto the existing fire, given that the virus is exacerbated by all three issues.
What do these trends in Detroit tell us about the country as a whole?
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