Creating the right environment for life-giving social connections
The first day of October is the United Nations International Day of Older People – a moment to raise awareness of the opportunities and challenges faced by ageing populations.
Our Chief Executive, Dr Carole Easton OBE, reflects on this year’s theme celebrating the vital role that social connections can play in our lives.
It is understandable how people can become ambivalent and uninterested about awareness days. There are now more days dedicated to particular groups and causes than there are in the year and I sometimes wonder what impact they have. Do we really need a National Kazoo Day or International Talk Like A Pirate Day?
At their best, awareness days are an effective way of bringing people together at a point in time, around the globe, to draw attention and share in the determination to improve lives. And that’s why I am keen to spread the word and participate in the celebration of International Day of Older People (IDOP).
The theme this year “Building Belonging” is very pertinent to one of my other concerns about awareness days. They risk sometimes being perceived as promoting one group or community over and above others.
But Building Belonging and IDOP is not, paradoxically, exclusively about older people. Crucially, it is about connecting people of all ages, from all walks of life and with a huge range of life experience. It is about designing our homes, environments, services and workplaces to be inclusive and responsive to the diversity of our population.
Sometimes, seen through certain lenses, it can feel like our society, our communities, are fracturing through division, conflict, hate. The focus is too often on difference, rather than what we have in common and all hold dear. Sometimes it takes a moment of reflection, a moment to step back, and refocus. Today is International Day of Older People [IDOP]. As good as time as any to take that moment.
Particularly so because this year’s celebrations highlight the vital role that social connections can play in our lives, with the theme of Building Belonging. Social connections, from a quick hello on the street to the supportive relationships built over time, are the building blocks of our communities. They are what transforms a row of houses and buildings into something much, much more. A bond that pulls you into the people around you.
Everyone needs these social connections. They are as vital as air and water to our existence. The streets, villages, towns and cities that we live in must allow for those moments of connection. Unfortunately, too often they create the barrier to connection, the barrier to community.
We know that older people play an integral part in strengthening the social fabric of our communities; as workers, carers, volunteers, activists and connectors. When the opportunities for connection are there, older people’s contributions can be vital in fostering a strong sense of belonging across generations. But when they are not, it's also older people that can suffer the most.
As we get older, staying connected remains just as important as it has been throughout our lives. Ageing doesn’t stop us from forming or keeping relationships. But certain aspects of later life, like retirement or changing health, can bring both new possibilities and new challenges.
That is where an Age-friendly Community becomes indispensable in opening those opportunities for connection. Communities where the physical and social environments, the transport, outdoor spaces, volunteering and employment, leisure and community services, all help to create the moments of social connection.
When community groups are unsupported or struggling to continue, opportunities for connections are lost. When public transport becomes too costly, inconvenient or unreliable, opportunities for connections are lost. When public spaces feel unwelcoming, excluding or not designed for you, opportunities for connections are lost.
What is so wonderful about IDOP is that people are at the heart of what makes it special.
This year will be no different as once again we see people across the country embracing the moment, the spirit and the theme of the day and making it their own.
We have asked people to celebrate all the ways that their community is creating opportunities for social connection such as existing community groups, activities and befriending schemes.
We have encouraged people to do something new that enables social connection on the day, like holding an event or activity which brings people together. And we hope that people will be planning and taking action to enable more social connection in the future, forging new relationships which create regular opportunities for collaboration and connection across generations.
As always with IDOP, the way that the theme and means of celebrating the day are interpreted across the country creates such a diverse and fascinating range of activities.
Through the coming days and weeks, we will see civic buildings lit up in dazzling colours, musical performances, charity cycle challenges, fish and chip suppers and dance displays all in the name of IDOP at events up and down the length and breadth of the country.
All these occasions will create wonderful moments for social connections and I hope as many of you as possible can take up those opportunities.
Happy IDOP to you all!