Commissioner’s Strategy 2025-28: A Wales that leads the way for older people

Foreword

For many older people, growing older in Wales is a positive experience – they can access the information, support and services they need, they feel safe in their homes and communities, are treated fairly and can make their voices heard.

However, this is not the case for everyone and a range of challenges and barriers across many aspects of people’s daily lives impact upon their health, well-being and independence, leaving people feeling excluded, left behind and unvalued, thereby affecting their opportunities to live and age well.

This Strategy sets out the strategic objectives my work will be focused on during the next three years to address the issues and concerns raised with me by older people and drive the change and improvements they want to see. Alongside this I have also published my Work Programme, which is underpinned by this Strategy and details the specific action I will deliver in the year ahead.

It’s also crucial that policy- and decision-makers take action, using the levers of change available to them, to improve services and support for older people and respond to their voices more effectively.

This is something I will be closely monitoring as Commissioner, and I will not hesitate to hold public bodies to account where required should I feel that sufficient progress is not being made.

By working together, we have opportunities to create a Wales where every older person is valued, included and supported to live with dignity and independence. By listening, taking action, and driving meaningful change, we can build a society where growing older is something to be celebrated – a Wales that leads the way for older people.

Rhian Bowen-Davies // Older People’s Commissioner for Wales

My role as Commissioner

My role as Older People’s Commissioner for Wales is to be an independent voice and champion for older people across Wales, standing up and speaking out on their behalf, ensuring older people’s rights are upheld, influencing policy and practice and scrutinising the action and decisions of government and public bodies, holding them to account where necessary.

The Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Act 2006 sets out four key functions that underpin my role:

• Promote awareness of the interests of older people in Wales and of the need to safeguard those interests;
• Promote the provision of opportunities for, and the elimination of discrimination against, older people in Wales;
• Encourage best practice in the treatment of older people in Wales;
• Keep under review the adequacy and effectiveness of law affecting the interests of older people in Wales.

My role is supported by a set of unique legal powers, which enable me to undertake formal reviews, issue guidance to public bodies and provide assistance to older people.

Supported by a small team, my work is focused on ensuring older people’s voices are heard and their experiences are understood in order to drive change and improvements and tackle the issues that can prevent us from living and ageing well.

I also deliver action to empower older people through providing information and resources about rights and the services and support we are entitled to as we get older, as well as through providing advice and assistance directly to older people who contact my office for help and support.

Our Values

Our values describe the culture we want to build and the change we want to lead, and have been shaped by who we are and what we believe in.

They provide a foundation that guides how we work together and with others on behalf of older people, supporting us to act with integrity, compassion and purpose.

• Bold and Ambitious
• Adaptable and Responsive
• Fair and Inclusive
• Person-centred and Respectful
• Open and Accountable

My Vision

My vision is a Wales that leads the way in empowering older people, tackling inequality and enabling everyone to live and age well.
I will play a key part as Commissioner in making this vision a reality by delivering a robust and responsive work programme shaped by older people’s voices and experiences.

But it’s also crucial that public bodies and services across Wales take action to respond to the range of challenges and barriers faced by older people and deliver the change that older people want and need to see, building on progress to ensure a more inclusive and supportive future for everyone.

To support this, I have identified four key outcomes that will provide a strategic national focus to the action required, shaped by the issues and concerns raised with me by older people across Wales.

• Older people can access the information, services and support they need
• Older people feel safe in their homes, communities and relationships
• Older people are treated fairly and their contribution is recognised and valued
• Older people can make their voices heard and have choice and control over their lives.

The strategic objectives set out below and the action I take through my work programme will contribute to the delivery of these outcomes, which also provide a framework to guide the action and decisions taken by public bodies and services across Wales.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

Driving change to make Wales a place where people can live and age well

It’s crucial that older people have the opportunities and support they need to do the things that matter to them and lead healthy, independent and fulfilling lives.

This means ensuring that older people’s needs are reflected across policy and practice throughout Wales, recognising that people’s needs may change as they grow older and making sure that people’s rights are upheld whatever age they happen to be.

In addition to this, key services and support – from health and social care, to public transport, to wider community services, amenities and activities – must be accessible, responsive and always delivered to the highest standards.

It’s also important that older people are not excluded or left behind in an increasingly digital world where technology plays an even greater role in our day-to-day lives.

But older people often tell me they face difficulties and barriers when trying to access the services and support they need to live and age well. This often has a significant and unacceptable impact on people’s health and well-being, and in some cases leads to points of crisis that could be prevented.

My work over the next three years will therefore be focused on:

• Influencing policy and challenging poor practice to improve services, support and opportunities for older people
• Scrutinising the actions and decisions of public bodies and services to ensure older people’s rights are upheld and that older people are not excluded or left behind
• Ensuring older people have equitable access to services that support their health, well-being and independence
• Undertaking research and reviews to improve evidence and data relating to older people’s experiences to drive change and improvements
• Working with local authorities and other organisations to make communities more Age-Friendly
• Supporting action that enables older people to maintain their independence and do the things that matter to them

Empowering older people

Understanding our rights and the kinds of support we are entitled to if we need them hugely important to us all but can become even more important as we grow older.

We may find ourselves engaging more frequently with public bodies and services, for example, or in situations where these rights and entitlements become more important in terms of helping to ensure we are treated fairly or to keep us safe and well.

Similarly, we all want opportunities to have a say in decisions that affect our lives, including decisions about changes to services or within our communities. Feeling that our voices are heard – and that our opinions matter – is fundamental to a fair and inclusive society.

Older people frequently tell me, however, that they struggle to make their voices heard and that policy- and decision-makers often don’t understand their experiences and the challenges they face, which can make growing older more difficult and impact upon people’s quality of life. Older people also say they often find it difficult to find crucial information to support them in their day-to-day lives which can leave people feeling powerless and excluded.

My work over the next three years will therefore be focused on: 

• Engaging with older people across Wales to hear directly about the issues affecting their lives and the barriers they face
• Raising issues and concerns shared by older people with Government Ministers, Senior Leaders and policy- and decision-makers
• Ensuring older people have opportunities to influence decisions affecting their lives and communities in a meaningful way
• Developing information and resources that enable older people to better understand their rights and challenge poor services or treatment
• Providing help and support directly to older people across Wales through my Advice and Assistance service
• Sharing and promoting good practice that has a positive impact on older people’s lives

Changing the narrative about older people and ageing

Ageism remains one of the most persistent and overlooked forms of discrimination within society, impacting on the ways that older people are viewed, treated and valued and limiting the opportunities available to us as we grow older.

Too often, growing older is viewed only in negative terms, presented as something to be feared and associated with decline and dependence, which can lead to ageist attitudes and discrimination.

Furthermore, older people’s skills, knowledge, experience and the significant contribution they make often go unrecognised, despite the benefits these bring to our lives in so many ways.

These issues are reflected in the conversations I’ve had with many older people across Wales, who tell me they often feel invisible and that their lives don’t matter, or that the way that growing older is portrayed within the media and society does not represent their lives and experiences.

Challenging harmful assumptions and stereotypes about older people and changing the way society thinks and talks about ageing is essential if we are to build a fairer and more inclusive Wales where older people are valued for who they are and enabled to live and age well.

My work over the next three years will therefore be focused on: 

• Improving policy and practice to prevent age discrimination
• Challenging assumptions and stereotypes about older people and growing older that may limit opportunities for people to age well
• Highlighting the significant contribution older people make to our lives
• Celebrating the diversity of older people in Wales across different backgrounds, experiences and identities
• Providing platforms to enable older people to share their stories and lived experiences
• Supporting action that brings generations together to strengthen respect and understanding

Impact and outcomes

I will use a combination of methods to track the progress being made against the national outcomes set out at the beginning of this document, both through my own work as Commissioner and by public bodies and services across Wales. This will include examining available data, as well as older people’s lived experiences.

A key measure will be the extent to which policy and practice across Wales reflect the rights and needs of older people. This includes scrutinising legislation, guidance, decisions and service delivery across areas including health, social care, transport and community-based services. Part of this will include scrutinising the visibility and inclusion of older people’s voices in policy- and decision-making to ensure there is meaningful co-production.

Hearing directly from older people will be at the heart of my approach to measuring impact and outcomes, through ongoing engagement across Wales, as well as special events, focus groups, surveys and consultations.

Information captured through my Advice and Assistance Service will also provide valuable insights into the challenges faced by older people, their access to essential services, whether people’s rights are being upheld and how supported they feel within their communities.

In addition, I will undertake research on specific matters, examining older people’s experiences, issues affecting their lives and the impact of action being delivered to identify potential gaps and areas where further work may be needed.

I will also capture information, evidence and intelligence from partners and stakeholders, particularly organisations with a good understanding of the situation ‘on the ground’, such as third sector organisations and service providers.

More widely, I will monitor attitudes towards older people and growing older within the media and across the discussion and debate that underpins public discourse.

All of these approaches will help me to measure the impact of my work, and the extent to which Wales is empowering older people, tackling inequality and enabling everyone to live and age well.