The elderly and social services
The elderly are now the largest group using personal social services worldwide. In all advanced industrial societies, the proportion of infirm elderly is on the increase and although they make up only a small minority of the retired population, their claim on social services is excessively heavy. Social care for the elderly is often labour1-intensive, so most countries give full support to the promotion of family care and the expansion and rationalisation of informal care on a voluntary or quasi-voluntary basis. Paradoxically, the majority of elderly people lead independent lives, seldom benefiting from personal social services.
WARM UP
• In your opinion, how many old people need sodai care in ltaly?
a. about 300,000
b. about 3 million
c. about 30 million
MORE
1 The word 'labour' is used to referto hard physical work. For this reason it is also used to refer to the process of childbirth (ltalian travagllo).
Types of services
Local authorities, such as the city councils, health care units or authorised private structures provide social care services for the elderly.
They provide practical and financial support to enable them to live independently in their own homes, or guide them through the options available if they are no longer able to live alone. Services are provided directly to the person in need or as a sort of support to family members who take care of the elderly.
The services include: residential and nursing care, sheltered housing, day centres, lunch clubs, ‘meals on wheels’, homecare services, financial help for pensioners, telecare and bus passes for the elderly.
Lunch clubs
In the UK, the Royal Voluntary Service Lunch Clubs bring older people together to enjoy a hot nutritious meal and socialise with friends at the same time. There are 450 community centres and lunch clubs across England, Scotland and Wales. They generally meet once a month, but the meal is just one part of the lunchtime experience. It is a social occasion as much as a nutritional one.
The Royal Voluntary Service encourages healthy eating. For those not used to cooking for themselves, usually men who have lost their wives, carers1 teach them how to cook a healthy meal.
DO
1 The average salary for a carer (or caregiver) in ltaly is € 9 per hour. Do you think it is enough?