A happier old age : a discussion document on elderly people in our society / Dept. of Health and Social Security, Welsh Office.

  • Department of Health and Social Security
Date:
1978
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: A happier old age : a discussion document on elderly people in our society / Dept. of Health and Social Security, Welsh Office. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Now we must add a third vital aim. Old people must be able to take their own decisions about their own lives. They must have the fullest possible choice and a major say in decisions that affect them. Because the issues involved are so important and because they affect the whole of our society we announced last year that early in 1979 the Government would be publishing the first ever White Paper setting out a general strategy towards elderly people for the period up to the end of this century. But before we do so, we and our colleagues in the Government who are most closely concerned decided that it was essential to seek the views of organisations and individuals with knowledge and experience of the needs of the elderly and of the services designed to meet their needs. We want especially to hear from old people themselves since they have a leading part to play in this discussion. We began this process of consultation with a conference in July 1977 which was attended by a wide cross-section of people. We are now following this up with a few smaller seminars at which particular aspects of the care of the elderly are being discussed in some depth. And we have recently seen the results of a survey by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys into the circumstances and views of elderly people at home which provides a rich quarry of useful information. We are now drawing together in this discussion docu- ment these and other themes, and setting the agenda for a wide- ranging debate that we hope will enable the Government to develop a long-term strategy to ensure the well-being and dignity of all elderly people. This Discussion Document is confined to England and Wales save for matters such as social security which relate to the United King- dom as a whole. The needs of the elderly in Scotland are at present being considered by a Programme Planning Group set up jointly by the Scottish Health Services Planning Council and the Advisory Council on Social Work. A similar study is likely to be undertaken in Northern Ireland after publication of the White Paper. Among the issues raised in this Discussion Document is the age at which people should be able to start drawing their retirement pension. This is an important and difficult issue but there is a danger that, by setting a retirement or pension age at a particular point, we may be drawing an artificial line between those above and those below that age. There will always be many people over pension age who will wish to continue working full-time either in their usual occupation or a new one. Others will want to reduce their working hours or give up paid work altogether, so that they can spend their time in other ways. With advancing age, people may become less active, but the change