title: Spotlight on Scotland: Assets and Opportunities for Aging Research in a Shifting Sociopolitical Landscape.
abstract: Scotland is a small nation, yet it leads the field in key areas of aging research. With the creation of a devolved government with authority over health and social services, the country has witnessed practice and policy developments that offer distinctive opportunities for innovative research. With multidisciplinary groups of internationally recognized researchers, Scotland is able to take advantage of a unique set of opportunities for aging research: a well-profiled population brings opportunities in population data and linkage to understand people's interactions with health, social care, and other public services; while research on technology and telecare is a distinctive area where Scotland is recognized internationally for using technology to develop effective, high-quality and well-accepted services at relatively low financial cost. The paper also considers free personal care for older people and the national dementia strategy in Scotland. The potential to evaluate the impact of free personal care will provide valuable information for other global health and social care systems. Exploring the impact of the national dementia strategy is another unique area of research that can advance understanding in relation to quality of life and the development of services. The paper concludes that, while Scotland benefits from unique opportunities for progressive public policy and innovative aging research that will provide valuable lessons at the forefront of a globally aging population, the challenges associated with an aging population and increasing cultural diversity must be acknowledged and addressed to ensure that the vision of equality and social justice for all is realized.
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK. j.m.robertson@stir.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jane M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bowes
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Grant
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McCabe
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Emma L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Reynish
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Alasdair C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Rutherford
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wilińska
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D006291:Health Policy; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D011050:Policy Making; D011640:Public Policy; D011788:Quality of Life; D012106:Research; D012606:Scotland; D012935:Social Justice; D013222:State Medicine
keywords: Care; Dementia; Demography; Diversity and ethnicity; Public policy; Technology