SCOTLAND should have a Tsar for older people, with powers to challenge age discrimination and defend the rights of vulnerable older people, according to experts.
Talks among leading figures have already begun on whether Scotland should have an Older Person's Commissioner - as both Wales and Northern Ireland already do - and whether it needs a specific convention on the rights of older persons.
The United Nation's expert on the human rights of older people Rosa Kornfeld-Matte has called on all countries to consider such a move, as international protections are not shielding older people from discrimination and human rights abuses.
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The initiative in Scotland is calling for a new post to be created along the same lines as the commissioner for children and young people - Scotland's young people have had a champion, employed by the Scottish Parliament, for 12 years now.
Dr Donald MacAskill, the chief executive of the umbrella body for private care homes Scottish Care, said older people in Scotland were subject to "pervasive and systemic age discrimination".
This affects residential care - with nearly twice as much spent per head on accommodating vulnerable children as vulnerable pensioners in care homes, he said. Meanwhile job seekers aged over-60 claim they are refused interviews on the grounds of their age, and sums allocated for nursing care are derisory.
"Why is it that a child in receipt of residential care will have nearly double the amount of public resource allocated to their care as an older person of 90 in a care home?" Dr MacAskill said.
"Why is it that countless individuals talk about not even getting the chance of a job interview if they are over 60? Why is it that at the age of 65 people who need social care support move from being an adult onto being an 'older person and ... suddenly find the level of their support diminishes?"
He said there was a need to address the challenges of widespread age discrimination, and ageist attitudes. "Everywhere you look there are negative stereotypes which perpetuate the myth that older people are incapable and dependent, have nothing to contribute but rather are a burden and a drain on society."
Dr MacAskill has chaired initial meetings to consider whether Scotland should respond to the call fro a convention on rights for older people or needs a commissioner. "A convention for older people in Scotland would go a long way to ensure equal treatment for older citizens, not least by demanding adequate financial provision for that group of the population," he said.
"Equally an Older Person’s Commissioner would be a champion and advocate for the human rights and equal treatment of older persons. Older Scots should not be the victims of discrimination in employment, in accessing public services, in social care or in hospital treatment."
Kavita Chetty, head of strategy at the Scottish Human Rights Commission said that while older people were in theory entitled to claim the same human rights as everyone else, in practise they were sometimes overlooked. "There can be an invisibility of older people's rights, and a lack of enforceability," she said. "We welcome the fact that discussions are taking place about what can be done at a domestic level in Scotland. It is a timely discussion to be having."
A spokesman for Age Scotland said the charity would like to see an international convention on the rights of older people. He said there was already a charter for dementia rights and welcomed the fact that the Scottish Government's national dementia strategy is founded on a human rights approach.
However the charity said it would like to see older people consulted directly on whether they wished to see a Scottish Commissioner for Older People.
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