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