Context: People with prior health conditions are susceptible to severe and sometimes fatal outcomes of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, that causes the disease COVID-19. The protection of the capacity of systems for social care was thus an important consideration for governments in the early stages of the global pandemic. Objectives: This paper reports and discusses the results of a rapid review of international early policy responses for the protection of social care systems after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that SARS-CoV-2 had evolved into a pandemic. Literature was collected in March 2020. Method: Rapid online review of government responses to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic using official government statements and press reports from 13 countries. Findings: The analysis of early responses in and about social care to the pandemic suggested an initial focus on avoiding the outbreak of the virus in care homes, with first steps being to limit visitors in these contexts and considering ways to isolate residents with symptoms or a confirmed infection. Responses to protect people receiving social care in their homes and schemes to support informal or family carers were less prominent. Limitations: Only publications in the public domain and in local languages of the 13 countries were considered for this analysis. It is possible that further strategies and responses were not made available to the public and are therefore not included, which limits this article's scope for analysis. Implications: The findings of this article can support reflection on the trajectory of policy responses to the threats that SARS-CoV-2 poses to social care. They can thereby potentially inform planning and policy responses for enhanced pandemic preparedness and stronger social care systems in the future.

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Care homes for older people attract human rights discourse. This has intensified during the Covid-19 pandemic, which disproportionately affected care home communities with various human rights ramifications. Activist scholarship in human rights can contribute to the protection and realisation of the rights of people living, working in and visiting care homes through highquality research. This article reports the findings of an analysis of pre-pandemic scholarship that explored the ways authors approached the topic of human rights of older people in care homes. The aim was to produce a typology of approaches to the topic as a basis for critical reflection and as a starting point for future activist scholarship in gerontology, social policy and law. Reflexive thematic analysis of 23 international English-language peer-reviewed articles published between 1998 and March 2019 was undertaken. Analysis was framed in the context of the health and social care setting of England. The article reports the pertinent and common assumptions that care homes are 'inherently risky' places for the protection of the human rights of 'vulnerable' care home residents. The article highlights five types of approaches: the anti-institutional, the legalistic, the care quality, the equality approach, and the issue-based approach.

The Covid-19 pandemic, with its adverse implications for older adults, has generated unprecedented public interest in issues around age and ageing globally. We systematically investigated the responses of national gerontological and geriatric societies (NGGS) to emerging challenges during the first wave of the pandemic. Framed within traditional research topics in gerontology, the aim was to identify the spectrum of focal points and positions directed towards governments, policy makers, researchers and society. A comprehensive, two-phased data collection strategy generated N = 22 position statements of NGGS affiliated to the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics. Using Ayalon et al. (J Gerontol Ser B, 2020. 10.1093/geronb/gbaa066) thematic categorisation of gerontological research, we applied quantitative and qualitative content analysis to analyse “calls for action” within the statements. The content of NGGS’ position statements show a high level of agreement on the salient topics during the first wave of the pandemic and reveal shared values such as equality, diversity and inclusion of older adults and the discipline of gerontology to be an applied one with relevance to policy and practice. The results can support future interdisciplinary research in gerontology post Covid-19 based on a vision to contribute to a society of all ages.

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