Is it time to dispense with nursing homes? The death toll from Covid-19 in these institutions is bringing the arguments for and against them into focus. Today we talk to two experts about what a different future might look like and the challenges getting there. 

Professor Gerard Quinn is a legal academic who contributed to the drafting of the United Nations Convention on the treatment of persons with disabilities, and is now working on a similar convention on the treatment of the elderly. 

Professor Des O'Neill is director of the Centre for Ageing, Neuroscience and the Humanities at Trinity College and a doctor specialising in geriatric care.