Elderly care hampered by stereotypes

Main Category: Seniors / Aging
Article Date: 11 Oct 2004 - 14:00 PDT


Stereotypes of the elderly as sick, vulnerable, or grumpy people could be restricting access to care, according to a report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).

These findings are based on a four-year research programme which concludes that the elderly should have more say in planning the policies and services that affect them.

The JRF also stressed that old age should not be treated by policy-makers as "an illness for which there is no cure".

Alex O'Neil, who managed the JRF Older People's Programme stressed that typical stereotypes of the elderly were often incorrect.

He added: "They cast older people either in passive, submissive roles or they present aspirational messages, a bit like those in teen or beauty magazines, which just don't correspond with ordinary people's lives.

"The reality of old age is a constant negotiation between losses and gains which few service providers seem to have taken fully on board."

The report also recommends the setting-up of a JRF Task Group on Housing, Money, and Care for Older People that will lobby for policies to help strengthen older people's rights and reduce age discrimination in society.

http://www.hda-online.org.uk

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