Premium
A number of 9,500 single callers called the Elderly Line, a free help line for the elderly, between 2015 and 2020, with more than 2,700 people calling this year, double than the previous year, according to a top by the Margareta of Romania Royal Foundation (FRMR).
According to a release sent to AGERPRES on Wednesday, FRMR releases the "Top needs of the elderly in Romania", in which it explains the solutions offered to them.
The ranking is achieved by processing the data collected by the Elderly Line, which, in more than five years of operation, has recorded more than 51,000 interactions with seniors from all over the country, almost 9,500 of which are unique callers.
Of the 9,500 unique callers who called the Elderly Line in 2015-2020, 44 pct live in Bucharest, 31 pct in rural and small urban areas, and 27 pct belong to the 70-80 age category.
The top needs declared by the elderly in Romania include five main categories: useful information; practical care and support; material and financial support; emotional support; need to be active and social participation.
The analysis of the data collected during the five years shows that the dynamics of the problems and life situations faced by the elderly did not show significant changes, which was due in large part to an acute lack of development of social services, public or private, aimed at the elderly.
According to the study, the main reason seniors call the phone line is the need for useful information, caused both by social phenomena of isolation, marginalization and discrimination of the elderly, but also by their inability to adapt to new communication technologies. The analysis found that the number of persons who requested various information was higher in Bucharest (1,786) and Transylvania (626), with the lowest number being recorded in southeastern Dobrogea (142).
Regarding the need for care and practical support, this is expressed by specific requests related to information and medical assistance, specialized supervision, references about homes for the elderly and the institutionalization procedure. 48 pct of those who have expressed these needs are between the ages of 70 and 90.
The need for emotional support is driven by loneliness and social isolation that many elderly people experience, even if some of them do not live alone. 45 pct of phone line callers live alone, 22 pct live with their partner, 6 pct live with their children or grandchildren, and 1 pct said they are in a home for the elderly.
Since March, 707 applications for financial and material support have been registered, most in Bucharest and the southern Muntenia region, with seniors being directed to community social assistance services, operated by DGAS (Social Care General Directorate) or NGOs, to receive various types of aid.
For older people who express their need to be active and social participation, the Elderly Line offers volunteering actions in the community and participation in activities organized in seniors' clubs.
During the state of emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the social service recorded a daily double number of interactions, compared to the previous period - more than 3,000 calls and 900 unique callers.
According to the source, in the context of the pandemic, requests for material and financial support have intensified and placed this need ahead of that for emotional support. However, with the lifting of the state of emergency, the problems of the elderly have returned to their previous form.
The Elderly Line is a free help line that offers solutions to the needs of the elderly in Romania (information, advice, practical or emotional support). The social project was launched in 2015 in response to the problem of population ageing and received a total funding of 837,500 lei from Vodafone Romania Foundation. The Elderly Line was awarded for originality in 2016 and named the best Social Assistance Services project in Romania at the 2019 Civil Society Gala.
