Older People's Strategy - Newcastle City Council

8the population. Older people seek to be treated as individualsand to know that the diversity of their experiences, life choicesand expectations are acknowledged in the way services aredeveloped and delivered.Age itself is not a useful indicator of an individual’s needsand aspirations. In this strategy, therefore, we take a differentapproach. Moving into and through older age may include anumber of transitions at different stages and involve differentdimensions including: For those in employment, moving from full-time employmentthrough part-time or casual work to retirement; for thosewho are not in employment, the changes which result frombecoming a pensioner. Active retirement, community engagement and volunteering. Moving from independence to increasing reliance on others,through an increasing use of services, having a full-timecarer role, or separation or the death of a partner.Each individual older person will go through their ownunique set of transitions. We need to develop a much betterunderstanding of these transitions, and how older people canaccess the information, advice and support to handle them,not just after retirement, but as part of pre-retirement planning.The gender balance within the population also changes as peopleget older. Women are living longer than men. At present womenmake up 59% of the population aged over 65 (see Annex 7, Note 1).As a result, many of the services available to this age group aregeared towards women, leaving men more isolated and lesslikely to engage.