Perceived inclusive and responsive decision-making

Proportion

Inclusive and responsive decision-making enables older people to influence policies and services that affect their lives and supports accountability of public institutions. When older people feel heard and see their concerns reflected in decisions, it strengthens trust, improves policy relevance, reduces exclusion, and supports social cohesion. Monitoring this indicator provides a practical signal of whether governance systems are engaging older people as legitimate stakeholders and responding to their priorities.

This indicator measures the proportion of older people who perceive that public decision-making processes are (1) inclusive, meaning older people are able to express their views and feel those views are considered, and (2) responsive, meaning decision-makers and public institutions listen to and act on older people’s needs and concerns. The indicator reflects self-reported external political efficacy among older people over the past 12 months. Note: Decision-making refers to public governance decision-making (government and public institutions, including local governance), not private household or family decision-making.

Age (five-year age groups), sex, income level, education level, place of residence (administrative region and urban/rural or equivalent), setting (residential care facility or community), disability status, and nationally relevant population groups.

This indicator is measured using a nationally representative population survey of older people with a 12‑month reference period. Respondents are asked a small set of standardized Likert-scale questions capturing perceived inclusiveness and responsiveness of public decision-making. The questions should cover three core elements: (1) whether respondents feel their opinions and preferences are considered when decisions are made about issues that affect them, (2) whether decision-making processes in their community or public institutions are open and include the perspectives of all age groups including older people, and (3) whether decisions that affect their lives are made in a way that is responsive to their needs and concerns. Respondents are classified as having a positive perception if they select “agree” or “strongly agree” for all three elements. The numerator is the number of respondents with positive perceptions, and the denominator is all respondents with valid responses to the full set of questions. The indicator is calculated as the numerator divided by the denominator, multiplied by 100. Remark: For cross-country comparability, survey questions should be framed explicitly around public decision-making. If items include family or household decision-making, results may no longer reflect public governance and should be reported separately or clearly flagged.

amuthavallithiya@who.int

AMUTHAVALLI THIYAGARAJAN, Jotheeswaran

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This indicator captures perceptions of inclusiveness and responsiveness, not verified governance practices, and responses may be influenced by personal expectations, prior experiences, communication barriers, trust in institutions, or social desirability bias. Cultural norms and local governance arrangements may affect how respondents interpret concepts such as "openness," "having a say," and "responsiveness," which can limit comparability across settings. The indicator does not identify which public institutions are being assessed (for example, local government, health authorities, social services) and therefore cannot directly attribute results to specific policy domains. In addition, positive perceptions do not necessarily imply that decision-making is equitable in practice, since informal power dynamics may still exclude some groups of older people despite generally favorable responses.