Strategic Planning as the Core of Active and Healthy Ageing Governance: A Case Study

Abstract

The present study explores the design and implementation of public policies focusing on ageing by Portuguese local governments, considering the lack of a centralized national strategy for active and healthy ageing to guide and be customized at a local level. To take stock of what is being accomplished at the city council level, we first collected and analyzed the available local strategies and further explored the process of elaboration and implementation through semi-structured interviews in four case studies. Findings suggest that only a small percentage of local governments have a strategic plan for (active and healthy) ageing. The first was launched in 2008, but most have been in place for only a few years, indicating that local governments are growing more aware of their relevance and necessity. The qualitative data supports the vital importance of this policy instrument; however, lacking centralized guidelines, the process of elaboration and implementation is idiosyncratic and prone to strategic shortcomings. Common to all is the agreement with the role of the strategy in meeting older people’s needs and expectations, currently attuned with ageing located in the community with the least disruption possible. These results provide some cues to what may be a conceptual and operational framework of healthy ageing policies to apply at the local level, privileging more flexible, fair, and adjusted approaches to the needs of older individuals in different territories.