Senior Policy in Polish Legislation on the Example of Local Government Seniors Councils (Taking into Account the Amendment of 2023)

Abstract

Senior policy is mentioned in the area of public administration most frequently in the context of the organization of health services. While treating seniors as public sector beneficiaries, it is easy to forget about the values that people defined as seniors may offer. In my study, I posit a thesis (H1) that Poland is a country that has a planned senior policy in the form of Seniors Councils at the
local government level. The supporting thesis (H2) is a statement concerning the benefits of involving seniors at the level of local government units as public administrators at local and regional levels. An additional research question is: do top-down regulations at the central level contradict the idea of grassroots public participation? The study also shows the changes and consequences of
normative acts regulating the existence of senior citizens’ councils at each of the three levels of local government in Poland.
The study falls within the field of social sciences. In addition to research methods appropriate to the discipline of political science and administration, the author used participant observation as a person directly involved in the establishment of consultative and advisory bodies in local government, such as senior citizens’ councils.