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Resolution 2168 (2017)
Human rights of older persons and their comprehensive care
1. The Parliamentary Assembly welcomes
the growing trend towards strengthening the protection of older persons’
human rights, reflected by the adoption of regional legal instruments
specifically devoted to older persons’ rights, including by the
Council of Europe. Despite this positive trend, widespread negative stereotypes
of older persons continue, alas, to be at the root of age discrimination
and violence against them, as well as of their isolation and exclusion.
2. The Assembly notes that accessing good-quality health care
and long-term care still remains a challenge for many older persons
in Europe. In addition to the physical and financial barriers they
encounter, older persons often suffer from care being delayed or
even denied as a result of the fragmentation of health- and social-care
services. Other major concerns in this context are the lack of sufficient
health-care staff with adequate knowledge of geriatrics, and the
absence of a person-centred approach which would help older persons
maintain their autonomy and quality of life.
3. The Assembly is appalled by one estimate which suggests that
at least 4 million older persons in the World Health Organization’s
European Region experience maltreatment in any one year. Against
such a background, it is all the more worrying that abuse of older
persons remains a taboo subject in many countries and thus an under-reported
problem.
4. The Assembly further notes that older persons are disproportionally
affected by isolation and loneliness, which has an impact on their
health and well-being, and can lead to their social exclusion. They
are also an economically vulnerable group prone to poverty, another
major element contributing to their exclusion.
5. In view of the above, the Assembly calls on the Council of
Europe member States to take the following measures with a view
to combating ageism, improving care for older persons and preventing
their social exclusion:
5.1. ensure
a minimum living income and appropriate housing for older persons
with a view to enabling them to live in dignity;
5.2. prohibit, in law, age discrimination in the provision
of goods and services;
5.3. provide support for continued employment and training
for those who want it;
5.4. promote a positive attitude to ageing through awareness-raising
campaigns targeting the media, service providers and the general
public;
5.5. ensure the availability, accessibility and affordability
of health care and long-term care for older persons;
5.6. integrate health- and social-care services for older persons;
5.7. ensure adequate training of health-care professionals
in geriatrics and establish geriatric centres throughout the territory
where possible;
5.8. foster a person-centred approach in the provision of care,
by organising it around the needs and preferences of older persons,
and involving them in its planning;
5.9. adopt a charter of rights for older persons in care settings,
to be used, inter alia, to
empower older persons and to monitor long-term care institutions
by an independent body;
5.10. ensure appropriate assistance and support for older persons
living in their homes, including medical and nursing care, meals
on wheels and domestic assistance;
5.11. ensure financial and practical support for informal caregivers,
including training, counselling and advice, and take measures to
offer them respite;
5.12. raise awareness of physical, psychological and financial
abuse of older persons, and collect relevant data, including on
associated risk factors, with a view to drawing up an action plan
to eliminate such abuse;
5.13. promote active ageing by developing age-friendly environments,
including spaces for joint activities between older persons and
younger generations with a view to fostering intergenerational ties;
5.14. encourage volunteering by older persons, both in their
own country and abroad, as well as volunteering to support older
persons.