Dignity and older people: The voice of society

This paper describes the findings from 89 focus groups held with 505 young (13‐39 years) and middle‐aged (40‐59 years) adults in the UK, Ireland, Spain, France, Slovakia and Sweden.There were many similarities across all countries and most differences were between the different age groups, rather than the different countries. Five major themes were identified from the comparative data: views of dignity; old age and ageing; views of older people's lives; across the generations and adding dignity to older people's lives. Many of these findings confirmed those of the focus groups with older people and health and social care professionals. Dignity was important to people of all ages but particularly to older people. Being treated as an individual was critical for the maintenance of dignity. In the participating countries older people were generally treated negatively and undervalued and seen as vulnerable, second‐class citizens.Old age was perceived as a time of physical and mental deterioration, poverty and dependency. Intergenerational activities were important for both individual self‐esteem and the ability to participate fully in society. Suggestions for enhancing dignity included greater public awareness about the dignity of older people and about existing care and support services for them. Health policies should tackle ageism in service provision and the development of standards in health and social care for older people could do much to improve dignity.