The government's 'Foresight' programme has focused on the issue through its Ageing Population Panel, which was active in 1999-2000. The report stated that: 'The Age Shift is so far-reaching in its implications that it demands a broader response than that of business alone', and set out three strategic goals for public policy:
- ensure that age does not become a social dividing line
- ensure intergenerational fairness
- offer the highest possible quality of life for all as the population ages
These objectives were seen as part of a broader strategic vision to 'ensure that an ageing population remains one that is bound together, economically, socially and culturally'.
In more depthFind out more about the UK government's
Foresight programme
Inclusivity was seen as the key to achieving this, implementing through 'age-neutral' policies, reversing the trend to early retirement, and reshaping education and training to maintain and extend skills and expertise in an older workforce. Designing for inclusivity was seen as a crucial mechanism for delivering the environments, buildings, products and services needed to support an active, healthy and independent ageing population.
Inclusive design was defined as an approach to design to ensure that 'products and services address the needs of the widest possible audience, which will include an increasing number of older people.' Three priorities were set out for inclusive design:
- flexibility - adaptable for different users and uses, and responsive to age-related change
- independence - through choice and control
- social interaction - with family, friends, neighbourhoods and wider communities, and through work opportunities and democratic participation as active citizens
It is debatable how coherent government policy is with regard to ageing and disability, and most recently the emphasis has been on containing the cost of welfare benefits and pensions. This has happened in the context of growing legislation relating to disability and age discrimination, and there is no doubt that this legislative trend is well established and international. In the UK, the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) is the key piece of legislation. It came into effect progressively from 1996, with specific codes of practice effective in 1999 and 2004.