|
|
Old Age 'Treated Like an Illness'
By David Batty
October 11, 2004
"Google"
Image
Older people are seen as a burden, as a problem to be solved, or as sick and vulnerable "patients" whose rights are restricted by their need to accept health or social care, found the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).
Their situation is not being improved by portrayals of "successful ageing" as equating to the ability to compete with younger people in physically demanding activities, the thinktank warned.
The JRF said public policy makers failed to see past the stereotypes of older people as problematically sick and vulnerable, heroically active or comically grumpy like Victor Meldrew. As a result, the need of older people to have a good quality of life was not being adequately heard or acted upon.
The report, Older People Shaping Policy and Practice, calls for elderly people to be involved in planning the policies and services which effect them to combat negative stereotypes of ageing.
The pension's minister, Malcolm Wicks, launched the report today at the Royal Society in London. It warns of a "glass ceiling" over consultation procedures which prevents older people being represented when crucial decisions are being taken about the services they use and the policies that affect them.
The report's key recommendations are:
. Older people should have the strongest voice in deciding what makes a good quality service and if it is being delivered;
. Services should be more responsive to older people's changing needs;
. Community organisations, family and friends should be the major players in supporting older people.
The study is based on a four-year research programme, overseen by a steering group of older people, involving 18 different health and social care projects.
It praised social services departments that have moved towards involving older people in service planning. But Alex O'Neil, who managed the JRF older people's programme, said there was a long way to go: "Despite current talk about 'holistic' and 'rights-based' approaches, many planners and providers still see older people as the passive recipients of their services or of 'ageing strategies'."
The task group also called for reform of arrangements for ensuring an adequate retirement income, including a basic state pension, which would prevent older people from falling into poverty.
The group said a wider range of housing and care options are needed for older people, with local authorities involving them in devising "quality of life" to rethink the way services are planned and delivered.
|
|
