What Is Meaningful Participation for Older People? An Analysis of Aging Policies

The language used to construct policy problems influences the solutions created. Recent aging policies emphasize participation as essential to aging well, encouraging independence and active involvement in all aspects of life. However, it is less clear whether participation in the creation of policies or in policy goals and aspirations is meaningful. This article addresses the question: "How is meaningful participation reflected and enabled in policy?"

Eleven global, national, and local policies were purposively selected and analyzed using thematic and discourse analysis.

Policies framed population aging as a challenge and active aging as a value as or part of the policy-making process, participation is enabled (or not) through the types of participation encouraged by policy makers and the kinds of participation used to engage with older people.

Our analysis identifies a strong pattern of discourses regarding individual responsibility to age well; underlying tensions between productive and passive participation; and tensions inherent to the concept of consultation. Implications include the need for those in the consultative phase of policy making to engage with diverse older people and to use participatory methods to explore what meaningful participation means for older people themselves.