Social Participation of Older Persons Based on Human Rights:Conception Renewal and Action Plan

Equal participation and the promotion of social integration are essential parts of human rights protection. The theory of the right to social participation of older persons from the perspective of age stratification hardly explains the real difficulties older persons face in participating in social life. Life course theory reveals that social participation is an intermediate link between individuals and the social environment, so it is a means for individuals to achieve specific objectives as they age. In this light, there are three main interpretations for expressions of social participation of older persons throughout history, namely participation in health-oriented toward treatment of physiological aging, participation in production oriented toward human resources development of older persons, and full participation based on human rights. In the context of mainstreaming human rights and active aging, full participation based on human rights should become the main concept of relevant academic exploration and policy practice. To this end, we should establish the principle of protecting the rights of the elderly to social participation and integration, examine the participation process from the perspective of dynamic development, and construct the participation protection mechanism in light of China’s conditions.