The provision of information and advice for older people: What more do they want?

The importance of providing clear, relevant information and advice for older people has been recognised by health care professionals, politicians and policy makers. Key policies (Better Government for Older People, 1998; Better Care Higher Standards, 2000; National Service Framework for Older People, 2001) have restated the importance of such provision specifically in relation to older people. A literature search and an examination of local authority websites were key sources of information for the study designed to explore the elements of guidelines for good practice. In addition we examined the websites of three major providers of information and advice for older people. Older people's views as to what constitutes good quality information and advice were explored in three focus groups. These four sources of data are the basis for the findings reported in this paper. This paper reports the limitations in the existing provision of information and advice for older people. Key features emerging from the research were that the involvement of older people in every stage of the process of design, production, dissemination and monitoring of information and advice was necessary. Older people valued face‐to‐face contact in the provision of information and advice.