IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsoctx/v15y2025i7p185-d1694290.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Social and Citizen Participation of Older People as a Factor for Social Inclusion: Determinants and Challenges According to a Technical Expert Panel

Author

Listed:
  • Francisco Francés-García

    (Department of Sociology II, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain)

  • Clarisa Ramos-Feijóo

    (Department of Social Work and Social Services, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain)

  • Asunción Lillo-Beneyto

    (Department of Social Work and Social Services, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain)

Abstract

The social and civic participation of older adults has proven to be an asset that positively influences the dynamics of social inclusion that affect them, and expert opinion from international organisations calls for its inclusion in the development of public policies in response to the increasing longevity worldwide. However, the characteristics of this participation have not been sufficiently analysed. The main objective of this study was to test the explanatory capacity of an operational proposal relating to the participation of older people based on a multidimensional participation structure. Four dimensions were established: two relating to social participation (associations and volunteering and public sociability) and two linked to citizen participation (political and electoral participation, as well as active citizenship and civic engagement). Based on the proposal, a technical expert panel (TEP) was asked to identify the main participation challenges faced by older people across the four dimensions identified. Consensus was sought using prioritisation matrices. The results showed, among other issues, the key role of the dimensions of citizen participation in identifying participation challenges that have an impact on social inclusion. The political and electoral participation dimension had a specific weight regarding the challenges linked to current problems and characteristics. On the other hand, the active citizenship and civic engagement dimension was oriented towards the challenges linked to desirable conditions and recommended initiatives in the future to improve the impact of older people’s participation. The expert panel’s statements coincide with the recommendations of international organisations on the need to involve older persons in policymaking from a perspective of comprehensive and person-centred care. This provides a concrete response to people’s demands and fosters bottom-up planning policies that contribute to social cohesion.

Suggested Citation

  • Francisco Francés-García & Clarisa Ramos-Feijóo & Asunción Lillo-Beneyto, 2025. "The Social and Citizen Participation of Older People as a Factor for Social Inclusion: Determinants and Challenges According to a Technical Expert Panel," Societies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:15:y:2025:i:7:p:185-:d:1694290
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/15/7/185/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/15/7/185/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Klimczuk, Andrzej, 2016. "Comparative Analysis of National and Regional Models of the Silver Economy in the European Union," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 1-29.
    2. Xinyu He & Daniel T. L. Shek & Wenbin Du & Yangu Pan & Yin Ma, 2022. "The Relationship between Social Participation and Subjective Well-Being among Older People in the Chinese Culture Context: The Mediating Effect of Reciprocity Beliefs," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Santini, Ziggi Ivan & Jose, Paul E. & Koyanagi, Ai & Meilstrup, Charlotte & Nielsen, Line & Madsen, Katrine R. & Koushede, Vibeke, 2020. "Formal social participation protects physical health through enhanced mental health: A longitudinal mediation analysis using three consecutive waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in E," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    4. Kazushige Ide & Taishi Tsuji & Satoru Kanamori & Seungwon Jeong & Yuiko Nagamine & Katsunori Kondo, 2020. "Social Participation and Functional Decline: A Comparative Study of Rural and Urban Older People, Using Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study Longitudinal Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-13, January.
    5. Vanessa Ibáñez-del Valle & Silvia Corchón & Georgiana Zaharia & Omar Cauli, 2022. "Social and Emotional Loneliness in Older Community Dwelling-Individuals: The Role of Socio-Demographics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-13, December.
    6. Utta Tiittanen & Riitta Turjamaa, 2022. "Social Inclusion and Communality of Volunteering: A Focus Group Study of Older People’s Experiences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-10, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Liu, Yiwei & Duan, Yanan & Xu, Ling, 2020. "Volunteer service and positive attitudes toward aging among Chinese older adults: The mediating role of health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    2. Krystian Heffner & Brygida Klemens & Brygida Solga, 2019. "Challenges of Regional Development in the Context of Population Ageing. Analysis Based on the Example of Opolskie Voivodeship," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-23, September.
    3. J. Iñaki De La Peña & M. Cristina Fernández-Ramos & Asier Garayeta & Iratxe D. Martín, 2022. "Transforming Private Pensions: An Actuarial Model to Face Long-Term Costs," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Aleksic, Slavisa & Atanasov, Michael & Agius, Jean Calleja & Camilleri, Kenneth & Čartolovni, Anto & Climent-Pérez, Pau & Colantonio, Sara & Cristina, Stefania & Despotovic, Vladimir & Ekenel, Hazim K, 2022. "State of the Art of Audio- and Video-Based Solutions for AAL," EconStor Research Reports 251553, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    5. Klimczuk, Andrzej, 2021. "The Silver Economy as a Constructive Response in Public Policy on Aging," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 19-35.
    6. Mabel Ho & Eleanor Pullenayegum & Esme Fuller-Thomson, 2023. "Is Social Participation Associated with Successful Aging among Older Canadians? Findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(12), pages 1-15, June.
    7. Liudmila Reshetnikova & Natalia Boldyreva & Maria Perevalova & Svetlana Kalayda & Zhanna Pisarenko, 2021. "Conditions for the Growth of the “Silver Economy” in the Context of Sustainable Development Goals: Peculiarities of Russia," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-18, August.
    8. Pia Hovbrandt & Per-Olof Östergren & Catarina Canivet & Maria Albin & Gunilla Carlsson & Kerstin Nilsson & Carita Håkansson, 2021. "Psychosocial Working Conditions and Social Participation. A 10-Year Follow-Up of Senior Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-14, August.
    9. Miho Nishigaki & Masamichi Hanazato & Chie Koga & Katsunori Kondo, 2020. "What Types of Greenspaces Are Associated with Depression in Urban and Rural Older Adults? A Multilevel Cross-Sectional Study from JAGES," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-16, December.
    10. Selecky, Erik & Klimczuk, Andrzej, 2020. "Financial Gerontology," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 1-5.
    11. Costa-Font, Joan & Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina, 2022. "Mental health effects of caregivers respite: Subsidies or Supports?," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    12. Izaro Esain & Susana María Gil & Iratxe Duñabeitia & Ana Rodriguez-Larrad & Iraia Bidaurrazaga-Letona, 2021. "Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown on Physical Activity and Health-Related Quality of Life in Older Adults Who Regularly Exercise," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-11, March.
    13. Andrzej Klimczuk, 2018. "Polityka publiczna wobec starzenia się ludności. Przegląd pojęć i podejść teoretycznych," Studia z Polityki Publicznej / Public Policy Studies, Warsaw School of Economics, vol. 5(4), pages 1-28.
    14. Beata Bieszk-Stolorz & Krzysztof Dmytrów & Ewa Frąckiewicz, 2024. "Multivariate Analysis of the Sustainable Development of the Silver Economy in the European Union Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-21, December.
    15. Kazushige Ide & Seungwon Jeong & Taishi Tsuji & Ryota Watanabe & Yasuhiro Miyaguni & Hirotaka Nakamura & Miyako Kimura & Katsunori Kondo, 2022. "Suggesting Indicators of Age-Friendly City: Social Participation and Happiness, an Ecological Study from the JAGES," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-12, April.
    16. Adekunle Adedeji & Babatola Dominic Olawa & Saskia Hanft-Robert & Tosin Tunrayo Olonisakin & Tosin Yinka Akintunde & Johanna Buchcik & Klaus Boehnke, 2023. "Examining the Pathways from General Trust Through Social Connectedness to Subjective Wellbeing," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(5), pages 2619-2638, October.
    17. Andreas Jørgensen & Christina Bjørk Petersen & Martin Eghøj & Mette Toftager, 2021. "When Movement Moves: Study Protocol for a Multi-Method Pre/Post Evaluation Study of Two Programmes; the Danish Team Twin and Cycling Without Age," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-24, September.
    18. Annamaria Fiore, 2023. "Youth and female unemployment: a critical issue for inner areas in Puglia. Needs and opportunities in the silver economy age," RIEDS - Rivista Italiana di Economia, Demografia e Statistica - The Italian Journal of Economic, Demographic and Statistical Studies, SIEDS Societa' Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica, vol. 77(4), pages 203-214, October-D.
    19. Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska & Matthew T. Lee & Piotr Bialowolski & Eileen McNeely & Ying Chen & Richard G. Cowden & Tyler J. VanderWeele, 2022. "Associations between the Importance of Well-Being Domains and the Subsequent Experience of Well-Being," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    20. Dai Su & Zhifang Chen & Jingjing Chang & Guangwen Gong & Dandan Guo & Min Tan & Yunfan Zhang & Yanchen Liu & Xinlan Chen & Xinlin Chen & Yingchun Chen, 2020. "Effect of Social Participation on the Physical Functioning and Depression of Empty-Nest Elderly in China: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-15, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:15:y:2025:i:7:p:185-:d:1694290. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.