More than two-thirds of older Scots "do not feel valued" by society, according to a study that paints a "worrying" picture of how older people are treated and regarded.
New research from Age Scotland has revealed a sharp increase in the number of older people feeling that life has got worse for them.
The charity said responses to its survey of thousands of older Scots were a "tough read" and should act as a wake-up call for politicians.
Two-thirds of people over the age of 50 said they don’t feel valued by society, up from 51% in 2021 to 66%, and more than half (56%) felt life in Scotland was getting worse for older people, up from 34% in 2021.
Some of the reasons mentioned in the survey by participants as to why life was getting worse included concerns about care or social care, cost of living pressures, delayed discharge, inability to access their GP and digital exclusion.
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Age Scotland and Scotinform surveyed more than 4,100 over 50s covering every local authority area in Scotland.
Only 8% said they were satisfied that decision-makers and politicians treat older people’s issues with due consideration and just 3% felt that it was easy to have their voice heard by decision-makers with most respondents (56%) feeling it was not easy.
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The findings reflected how older people feel about life and society in Scotland in 2023 with some big swings in attitudes where it was possible to compare since 2021.
Only 3% said they felt that they were represented positively in the media and 16% said they were optimistic about their own future.
The issues older people identified as most important to them included timely access to healthcare; reducing the cost of living; more affordable and accessible energy-efficient homes; improving opportunities for younger people; tackling loneliness and isolation; improving public services and protecting the environment.
When asked what the First Minister’s priorities should be, the top two issues were social care and the NHS.
Katherine Crawford, interim chief executive for Age Scotland said: “Our research paints a grim picture of how older people in Scotland feel regarded in 2023, and at times made very tough reading.
“We undertook this work to get a snapshot of how older people feel about their lives and growing older in Scotland and it’s extremely disappointing that our research has shown a significant majority of them do not feel valued by society, represented in the media, or listened to by politicians or decision makers.
“A worrying trend we noticed since we conducted our survey in 2021 is a really negative downturn in how older people feel about life in Scotland right now.
“Older people have contributed in countless ways throughout their lives and continue to do so, yet far too many of them are spending their later years feeling unvalued and unheard.
“At a time when Scotland’s population is ageing and facing a growing number of serious challenges, it has been beyond disappointing that the Scottish Government stopped having a named minister for older people earlier this year. This is one of the many reasons why we have been campaigning for a Commissioner for Older People to act as an independent advocate to champion their voices and help to change how they feel.
“We hope our research is a wake-up call for politicians and decision-makers to strengthen older people's voices and ensure they are considered in decisions made right across Government.”
The full report of The Big Survey will be published in mid-September.
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