Introduction

This chapter is based upon the author's Social Science in the City™ talk at the Tart Café on 14 October 2010 but has been updated in the light of evolving government policies and reactions against the negative consequences of these for many older people. It starts by exploring what we mean by ‘old age’ but goes on to focus down on social care policies towards older people in terms of both what is driving them and their likely impacts. The final section of the chapter focuses down on the key messages for future public engagement activity, as well as some reflections on the different mechanisms available for having an impact.

On a personal note, the initial talk was given six weeks before by 60th birthday, when still an Associate Dean for Research and Knowledge Exchange in a large Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, which covered a huge range of subjects, from plant sciences to social work. As such, I had a broad responsibility to support public engagement in the faculty, with one of my contributions being the provision of a small financial allocation to support the Social Science in the City initiative.

Public engagement and understanding old age

Social care for older people has a high profile in England and Wales at the moment. There is wide recognition that the ageing of the so-called ‘baby boom’ generation will place high pressures on public and private pensions systems and, subsequently, as they age further, on health and welfare budgets. There is great disquiet among older people and their relatives about how they might have to use the equity in their homes to help pay for a care home place. Local authorities are struggling to meet their statutory responsibilities under adult social care legislation.

As a result, there is already a great deal of public engagement occurring in this area. However, the key message of this chapter is that this debate needs to be underpinned by a much more nuanced and positive understanding of the diversity of later life than is the case at the present. The importance of this can be illustrated by the simple question of ‘When does old age begin?’, since the answer given to this is often narrow and limiting.