Senior-Oriented Policy and Their Stakeholders. The Case of Lodz

Demographic changes characterised by the increasing participation of the elderly in society pose a challenge to public policies implemented by local and regional government. At present, people aged 60+ constitute over 25% of the total population in Poland. Therefore, the challenge is to meet the needs of this but also to use the potential of older people. The study aims to analyze the legal conditions for conducting senior policy at the national level and strategic documents adopted at the regional and local level in terms of improving the seniors’ quality of life. The study consists of an introduction presenting current demographic trends and related challenges faced by public authorities. It follows the legal conditions of senior policy in Poland. In the next part, using the desk research method, a review of public policies adopted in the Lodz region and in city of Lodz, was carried out, which allowed to assess to what extent local and regional authorities take into account in their policies the challenges related to the growing participation of older people in society. Then an attempt was made to create a map of stakeholders operating in the area of broadly understood senior policy in Lodz. The summary contains conclusions from the analysis and recommendations regarding solutions enabling the implementation of senior policy in a more integrated way and future research in this field.