Ageing and information: The Scottish older people’s movement

Abstract

The author’s role as the chair of a charity – Scottish Senior’s Alliance (SSA), provides insights into the need for Scotland to further develop information resources and services relevant to ageing and older peoples needs, and to design systems to make that information accessible to: policy makers; service providers; media organisations; older people’s organisations; and older people. The author’s perspective is of an insider in the context of a notional ‘older people’s movement’ committed to improving the circumstances, experiences and capacity of older people to sustain themselves and contribute to their communities. The author also has a long-standing academic interest in teaching, researching and advocating for Information Literacy. Themes include: trends in ageing populations; socio economic changes and policy challenges; portrayal of older people in the media. Proposals include: development of Information Literacy (IL) in relation older people; aligning IL developments to a politically strategic approach to ageing and older people’s interests in Scotland.