There are many commonalities between the barriers faced by older people and those faced by persons with disabilities. One of the main reasons for this is that a considerable percentage of older people do in fact have disabilities themselves in one form or another. According to the United Nations, 46% of persons over 60 globally have a disability. This means that almost half of older people are part of the disabled community.
While many older people might not self-identify as being disabled or even acknowledge that certain barriers they face later in life actually come from having a disability, the reality is that many of the challenges older people face overlap with those we experience in the disabled community. There is therefore a huge amount to be gained by addressing certain issues from the disability and ageing perspective simultaneously.
In this position paper we aim to outline the main overlapping issues faced by older people and persons with disabilities, including women, and to present a series of recommendations for how we feel these should be addressed in the new EU Care Strategy.
Download the position paper below
- Ageing Disability long-Term Care and EU Care Strategy (PDF document)
- Ageing Disability long-Term Care and EU Care Strategy (Word document)