The Budget medical card fiasco shows what happens when a government makes changes on the hoof and without proper consultation, writes Patricia Conboy
THE CAMPAIGN over the withdrawal of the entitlement to medical cards for the over-70s has been groundbreaking. Clearly a new energy is invigorating the country's older people and - if channelled effectively - this energy could help us to create a genuinely age-friendly society in Ireland.
Older and Bolder believes that the most effective tool for doing this is the National Positive Ageing Strategy. This is why we, our member organisations and thousands of older people lobbied each of the parties to get them to commit to such a strategy in advance of the last election. As a result of these efforts, the 2007 programme for government gave a commitment to the development of the strategy. But, so far, progress has been painfully slow.
Regrettably, what we have witnessed with the medical card situation is a continuation of policy-making for older people "on the hoof". We have also seen what happens when major policy change is introduced without effective consultation and communication with the people most affected by that change. In this case it was older people and their message has been clear: "nothing about us without us".
The core reason why Older and Bolder thinks that the National Positive Ageing Strategy is important is because it can provide the framework for strategic policy-making and planning for an ageing population. The National Council on Ageing and Older People, the National Economic and Social Council and the National Economic and Social Forum have previously recommended a national ageing strategy on this basis.
A National Positive Ageing Strategy would:
Set out our national goals for older people and ageing policy;
Bring together the government departments that need to take an integrated approach to planning about the myriad issues affecting older people's quality of life;
Establish a basis for rational resource allocation.
A society that aims to maximise the quality of life for older people will be a society for all ages. A good system of primary health care would, for example, benefit people of all ages. Adequate rural transport systems would, for example, carry people of all ages.
The joy of learning, the potential for growth and development and the desire to affect the fabric of the society in which we live are part of the lived experience of people of all ages. These attributes do not evaporate at a fixed chronological age, though we organise our society in many respects as if the years after age 65 are devoid of potential. Older people have much to teach society about the experience of ageing, about their own needs and preferences and the priorities they would set for a National Positive Ageing Strategy - if asked. This, in the view of Older and Bolder, is the next step. We need a meaningful consultation process with older people in advance of the development of the National Positive Ageing Strategy.
Minister of State for Older People Máire Hoctor is mandated to work cross-sectorally with the departments of health and children, social and family affairs and environment, heritage and local government. An Office for Older People has been established within the Department of Health and Children and is charged with leading out on the National Positive Ageing Strategy. These are steps in the right direction.
Older and Bolder has already proposed to the Office for Older People a set of criteria for the conduct of an effective public consultation with older people.
These criteria include:
Clear and transparent terms of reference for the consultation;
A high visibility campaign by government, including a regional "roadshow", to heighten public awareness of the National Positive Ageing Strategy;
A public commitment by the Minister of State for Older People to proactively listen and respond to the views expressed by older people;
An inclusive approach to the consultation that will take account of the particular barriers to participation experienced by vulnerable groups of older people, ie people with dementia, in nursing homes, with significant disability or frailty.
Participants will have more confidence in the consultation process if it incorporates a mechanism for public accountability. This should include the provision of written public feedback on responses to core questions posed during the consultation and an analysis of key themes emerging from the process.
Older and Bolder will be launching our own campaign for a meaningful consultation process with older people in relation to the National Positive Ageing Strategy at a conference in Dublin on December 8th. Outreach meetings with older people will be taking place in the northeast and the southwest in November 2008 and further meetings will be scheduled for 2009.
Clearly, there is much work to be done in creating an age-friendly society in Ireland. However, the events of the last couple of weeks have shown that older people are determined to ensure that this Government and future governments live up to their obligations in this regard.
Patricia Conboy is project director of Older and Bolder, an alliance of non-governmental organisations Active Retirement Ireland, Age and Opportunity, Age Action Ireland, Alzheimer Society of Ireland, Carers' Association, Irish Hospice Foundation, Irish Senior Citizens' Parliament and the Senior Helpline