Age friendly Wales: our strategy for an ageing society
Age Friendly Wales: Our Strategy for an Ageing Society, sets out the action Wales will take to reap the benefits of the growing number of older people in Wales as they rebuild their communities after the COVID-19 pandemic. This, in turn, will enable them to better support people living in challenging circumstances.
The strategy has been updated in sections to reflect policy changes in response to COVID-19 and public consultation responses, but the core elements of the strategy remain unchanged.
Where the pandemic has uncovered some positives about life in Wales, it has also sharpened the focus on the issues that matter most to older people, such as access to health services, loneliness and isolations, abuse and digital inclusion.
The strategy aims to unlock the potential of today’s older people and tomorrow’s ageing society, and adopts a rights-based approach that promotes equality and social justice across a range of policy areas and places the older people’s voice at the core of Welsh Government policy making.
The contents of the strategy, include:
- Purpose and longterm vision
- Aim 1: Enhancing wellbeing
- Aim 2: Improving local services and environments
The Strategy mentions that:
“The UN Principles state that ‘Older persons should be able to live in environments that are safe and adaptable to personal preferences and changing capacities.’ In line with our rights based approach, we are working to ensure housing in Wales supports people to live well at every stage of their life.”
And says going forward, their priorities are:
“[to] support the growth of new housing models that support people to age well. This will include contemporary sheltered housing and extra care housing.”
- Aim 3: Building and retaining people’s own capability
- Aim 4: Tackling agerelated poverty
- How progress will be monitored