Ireland’s Grey Vote Grows Bolder




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Ireland’s Grey Vote Grows Bolder

By Anne Dempsey, Eurohealth

Ireland

2006 (Volume 12, Number 4)

The run up to the May 2007 general election in the Irish republic has galvanized many of the usual suspects into action.

Both sitting and aspiring parliamentarians have been jostling for media space, constituency clinics are being assiduously managed, and candidate leaflets are dropping on hall mats round the country.

Amidst this traditional clamour, a new voice has emerged. The ‘Older & Bolder’ campaign, launched in November 2006, brings together a number of organizations who work in the ageing sector, aiming to seek from all parties and candidates a commitment for a National Strategy for Older People. It is the first such coordinated campaign and a timely one when older people in Ireland , as elsewhere, are living longer than ever before, providing opportunity and challenge in equal parts. While Ireland is normally portrayed as a young, thrusting country, our ageing figures are compelling. According to the 2002 Census, there are 436,000 people aged 65 and over, representing 11% of the population.

The National Council on Ageing and Older People (NCAOP) predicts this will rise to 15% by 2021, with other research anticipating the over-65s being one in four by 2050. Set against the 1900s when older people in Ireland numbered one in 25, this represents a huge demographic change in 100 years.

This increased longevity is a result of improved living conditions and medical advances. However, many people see the greying population as a demographic time bomb rather than demographic bounty. Ireland is no different from other western countries in being ageist.

Ageism characterises older people as a problem to be solved, rather than a resource to be celebrated. Ageism assumes that somehow people are worth less as they age, and is based on fear, myth and inaccurate assumptions about what it may be like to be older. One of ageism’s most worrying aspects is that it is socially acceptable. Discrimination on the basis of age is rarely challenged because many people either don’t think about it, or regard it as the natural order of things.

Age-related barriers
Such ageist attitudes are translated into public policy in terms of income, employment, discrimination and, of course, in access to health services. While holistic health at all ages is also affected by living conditions, income levels, social connectivity and feelings of being valued, the NCAOP’s 2005 ‘Perceptions of Ageism in Health and Social Services in Ireland’ identified a series of age-related barriers. These include:

– The upper age limit of age 64 for access to Breastcheck, a cancer-screening service, despite the fact that postmenopausal women may be more at risk of contracting breast cancer.

– The lack of stroke rehabilitation services for the over 65s in some Health Service Executive (HSE) areas – when again strokes are more prevalent in the older population.

– The limit of age 82 in one health area for access to cardiac services, while in others, the suspicion of rationing by age.

– An unwritten policy of prioritizing younger people for intensive care.

– An absence in one health area of aggressive oncology treatment for older people with cancer.

Campaign
Older & Bolder is spearheaded by five national organisations – Age Action Ireland, Age and Opportunity, the Irish Hospice Foundation, the Irish Senior Citizen’s Parliament and the Senior Help Line – coming together under a unified banner. The campaign began with a national billboard initiative. It showed the head and shoulders of an older person pictured large, with a similar figure of a younger person in the background. The slogan reads ‘Ageism: We’re both getting older. But which one of us have you just written off?’

A key campaign aspect is giving older people a voice. Accordingly, awareness meetings were organised round the country with groups of older people. Thousands of postcards were distributed inviting them to sign, stamp and return to campaign headquarters for presentation to the Irish parliament – another media event in early January which made the front pages. Older people have received media training supporting them to talk publicly about their own experiences and concerns.

During winter 2007 a series of public meetings are being held between groups of older voters and their public representatives, with mutual listening and discussion.

In a particularly imaginative move, a laminate card with questions for canvassers who call to the door looking for votes have been made available to householders.

Sample questions include:

1. What are your views on the rights of older people?

2. What are your party’s policies in relation to older people?

3. What do you plan to do for older people in this constituency?

4. Will you consult with older people on their issues?

5. Will your party support the development of a National Strategy for Older People if you get into government?

Position paper
In a position paper commissioned by the campaign, Professor Eamon O’Shea, of the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, National University of Ireland at Galway, set out a sense of what a New Strategy for Older People in Ireland might look like.

An important goal should be to increase healthy life expectancy for the over 65s, with an expanded role here for a proactive health promotion programme aimed at older people.

Prevention and early disease protection in primary care settings would include action on falls prevention, pain relief for arthritis sufferers, early intervention for people with sensory disabilities, early diagnosis of dementia, support for carers, and equal access to relevant screening programmes.

Specifically, he suggested it should ensure that:

– All government policies are age-proofed to remove discrimination against older people.

– Clear and consistent legislation on the rights and entitlement of older people is developed.

– Equality legislation is developed and strengthened.

– A proactive programme of information and provision is put in place to ensure that older people know what their rights and entitlements actually are.

A central aim of the Strategy should be to promote independent living of older people in their own communities for as long as possible, with the consequent implications for social care provision, access to public transport, social connectedness, and more research on technology supported-housing.

REFERENCES

1. Older and Bolder website: http://www.olderandbolder.ie

2. Central Statistics Office. Census 2002: Volume 2, Ages and Marital. Dublin : Stationery Office, 2005.

3. National Council on Ageing and Older People. An Age Friendly Society: A Position Statement. Dublin : National Council on Ageing and Older People, 2005.

4. National Council on Ageing and Older People. Perceptions of Ageism in Health and Social Services in Ireland . Dublin : National Council on Ageing and Older People, 2005.

5. O’Shea E. Towards a National Strategy for Older People in Ireland . Position Paper. Galway: Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, National University of Ireland , Galway , 2006.