Ageing strategy

In February, the government published the first national ageing strategy, which takes account of increasing life expectancy and the demographic challenges facing society, politics and the economy and aims to ensure a high quality of life and active participation into old age. The strategy was developed with the broad participation of senior citizens, the administration, municipalities, political parties and specialist organizations. The starting point was a broad-based future workshop with around 80 participants, followed by specialist workshops and a public consultation.

The strategy is based on the vision of a country with a high quality of life, in which people can participate actively, independently and self-determinedly in social life into old age, and in which different generations support each other. It defines nine guiding principles and eight central fields of action - including education and acquisition, old-age provision, medical care and nursing/care, health promotion and prevention, social integration and volunteering, advice and information, mobility and public space, and housing in old age - supplemented by three cross-cutting themes: Skilled workers, digitalization and financing.

The strategy is a successful and indispensable basis for a sustainable and human rights-based ageing policy. By focusing on self-determined ageing, social participation, barrier-free housing and care as well as comprehensive advice and integration, the ageing strategy explicitly strengthens the human rights of older people and enshrines their dignity, autonomy and participation as central concerns of social policy. The VMR suggests that, when implementing the ageing strategy, attention be paid to the particular challenges faced by vulnerable groups such as older people with a migration background and that sufficient financial and human resources be made available for the implementation of the strategy.

An internal steering committee will coordinate the implementation of the ageing strategy and report annually on progress. It has set priorities in the areas of education, old-age provision, care, health promotion and advice and information. In December, the first implementation measure under the strategy was introduced with the optimization of the care and nursing allowance in parliament. The optimization concerns the payment of money for inpatient stays abroad. The government had already previously decided to increase the care and nursing allowance and adjust it for inflation in the corresponding ordinance.

 

back