We didn’t want this year’s UN International Day of Older Persons to go unnoticed. The theme is “enabling and expanding the contributions of older people in their families, communities and societies at large. It focuses on the pathways that support full and effective participation in old age, in accordance with old persons’ basic rights, needs and preferences.”
It struck us here at OPAAL that this is exactly what advocacy is all about. Our members up and down the country are empowering older people on a daily basis, enabling them to contribute and to be heard. What’s additionally impressive is that many of our member organisations are led by older people and also utilise the skills and experience of older people to support their peers.
Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash
Older people have so much to contribute. In our Cancer, Older People and Advocacy programme, working with Macmillan Cancer Support and EY (formerly Ernst & Young), we have been able to show that in complex cases where the older person had three or more issues, the social, economic and financial return for the every £1 invested in advocacy was £6.70. That’s older people being effective in supporting their peers. In doing so they’re contributing to the economy not draining it as is the image so often portrayed. They’re also empowering their own communities, reducing isolation and giving hope when sometimes there is none.
So, let’s all look at older people appreciatively. Every individual no matter how old has something to offer.
Let’s celebrate older people not just on their special day, but every day.
Marie McWilliams, OPAAL
Older People Living with Cancer 