social participation – different ways for all to engage: an irish perspective louise richardson,...

Social Participation – Different ways for all to engage: an Irish Perspective

Louise Richardson, AGE Vice-President

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Social Participation

Proven benefits for older people and their communities

Link between European Years of:

2012- Poverty and social exclusion

2011 – volunteering

2012 - active ageing

2013 – active citizenship

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Participation of older Irish people in policy making

Active Retirement Ireland

AGE Action

Older and Bolder

Irish Senior Citizens Parliament

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Volunteering

Sporting activities:

GAA – Gaelic Athletic Association

Community Games

Special Olympics

‘Go for Life’

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Creativity and the Arts

Irish culture

‘Late Life Creativity’ by Professor Des O’Neill (2011)

Bealtaine Festival

Strategic partnerships with arts institutions

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Peer-to-peer volunteeringandMentoring

Senior Help Line

Small Household jobs

Senior Help Line

Meals on wheels

The value of mentoring

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Life Long LearningandInformal Caring Ireland: lowest % of older people in

education

Priority of LLL in White Paper on Adult Education not implemented

The increasing role of older people as informal carers

A cautionary note . . . . Carers need support and there is a risk of their social isolation and exclusion

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The Challenges Ageism and the need to

change attitudes

The role of the media

‘Say No to Ageism Week’

Anti-discrimination legislation and its shortcomings

Changing older people’s attitudes about themselves

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Engaging vulnerable groups

‘Failte Isteach’ Programme

‘Creative Exchanges’ Programme’

Music and story telling as reminiscence therapy

More research!

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ICT and Digital Literacy

Need for a comprehensive policy

Sharing and Co-ordinating exisitng programmes

A ‘Design for All’ approach

The value of the European AAL programme

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An Irish Innovation

Bealtaine conference ‘Creating a new Old’

www.bealtaine@ageandopportunity.ie

Re-defining how participation as we age is defined

Linking key stakeholder to formulate concepts, practices, and benefits

Need for research to assess value of arts in Social Cohesion

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The value of Age Friendly Environments

Current Age Friendly Initiatives: WHO Age Friendly cities Irish Age Friendly Counties Covenant of Mayors and EU virtual

network

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Useful publication

Joint publication of European Commission, Committee of Regions and AGE:

Explains what local and regional actors can do to support active ageing and solidarity between generations

Lists EU funding instruments for active ageing projects and gives example of already existing projects

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Web-link to brochure

‘How to promote active ageing in Europe: EU support to local and regional actors’

http://www.age-platform.eu/images/stories/EN/brochure_activeageing_en.pd

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A few last words

87% of older Irish people report a high level of life satisfaction (OECD, 2011)

What about the other 13%?

A life-cycle approach towards participation needs to be adopted

Need to spread and share innovative good practice

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Conclusion

• Explore and support new and innovative ways to meet the challenges of changing ageing demographics

More research needed!

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Thank you17