The Situation in Brief

Although ageism is a factor in Northern Ireland, a developing culture of rights and equality for older adults is taking shape. Older adults are becoming increasingly involved in their communities and the infrastructure of community and voluntary organisations supporting older people is extensive.

At the same time, however, the infrastructure is unco-ordinated, some services are undeveloped, the voice of older people themselves is muted and opportunities for active ageing are limited.

Ageing Programme Goals

The goals of the Ageing Programme in Northern Ireland are to achieve:

• Higher quality services that are available and accessible for the older adults who need them;
• Government policies and programmes that ensure equal access to services and benefits; and
• More empowered older adults, more closely engaged in community life

To achieve these goals, Atlantic is focusing its efforts on three strategic objectives in Northern Ireland.

• Strengthen the voice of older adults to improve attitudes and policy. This will include a comprehensive advocacy effort, including media-based approaches, older adults who are active participants and advocates, and advocacy organisations that are working together in a more collaborative way.We hope to achieve measurable improvement in the attitudes about ageing among key stakeholders and the public and to more empowered older people
• Support the creation of effective models of services for older people. We will invest in best-practice, sustainable models for benefit take-up and dementia care support, ready for replication. A stronger evidence base will be available to inform and prioritize strategic practice and policy initiatives.
• Expand opportunities for active social and community engagement by older people. Models of best practice will be established that actively engage and empower older adults, and small community organisations will have greater capacity to provide opportunities that engage and/or empower. We hope that this will lead to an increase in the number of older adults actively engaged in their communities.

Throughout its work, Atlantic will encourage:

• Collaboration and best practice approaches
• Collaborative and mutual learning, capitalizing on All-Ireland opportunities;
• Partnerships and collaborative approaches to service delivery;
• Convening and creating networks among older people, NGOs, thinkers and leaders, key stakeholders, community based groups and policymakers;
• Research and policy development, and identifying and introducing international best practice so that programmes are grounded in data and best practices become normal practices
• Capacity building to meet new challenges

Ageing Resources

• Age Concern Northern Ireland, www.ageconcernni.org
• Ageing in an Inclusive Society, www.ageinginni.gov.uk
• Help the Aged in Northern Ireland, www.helptheaged.org.uk/_fournations/ni/default.htm

Continue to read about our Ageing Programme in action in the Republic of Ireland »

Footnotes

1, Source: NISRA Annual Abstract of Statistics, 2004
2, Source: NISRA Annual Abstract of Statistics, 2004