Civil Society Organizations’ Discourse and Interventions to Promote Active Ageing in Relation with the Quality of Life in Latin-America

Abstract

Introduction: Active ageing and quality of life are concepts not easily defined and implemented and assumed in official and public discourse as goals to be achieved for a society that wishes to improve large groups lives such as older persons. Neither official documents defining public policies nor social discourses offer commonly accepted rules for assessing them. This chapter specifically aims at examining how civil society organizations (CSOs) position active ageing and quality of life in their policy documents as tools to exert political pressure in the design of three fundamental dimensions of public policy: health, financial security and physical and social environment.Materials and method: The research uses documents produced by Latin American CSOs that implement their role in the construction of policies relating to active ageing and quality of life in Latin America and the Caribbean (Santiago de Chile, Brasilia, Tres RÚos and YpacaraÚ) and that derive from the agreements at the World Assembly on Ageing held in Madrid in 2002.Results: The initial hypothesis is that CSOs have a recognized influence on the creation of public policies, but their real impact is limited as a result of the dominant role of government. Documentary analysis will permit an assessment of this role and the proposal of a more advanced and effective position for CSOs in the creation and implementation of public policies on active ageing.