The number of caregivers has dropped
"due to restrictions for migrants", the president of the
Sant'Egidio Community, Marco Impagliazzo, has said.
"Caregivers don't come anymore and this is a problem for
seniors. Without them, without home assistance or without the
creation of alternative forms of co-housing, they can't stay
home anymore and the mortality rate is on the rise".
Impagliazzo discussed the issue with Italian Premier,
Giuseppe Conte, when the prime minister visited the ecumenical
Catholic community: "We suggested to include in the decree"
regulating migrant arrivals, "which I hope will be drafted by
2019, at least 50,000 worker visas".
The community said the decree on migrant flows "has not been
renewed since 2011".
Conte was also asked to "renew the protocol for the next
humanitarian corridors for Syrians and Africans of the Horn of
Africa. We left him a memorandum, now we will see the results",
said Impagliazzo.
The isolation of seniors in Italy is on the rise, the
community said, "because their number is growing and because the
networks that used to protect them are getting weaker. One in
four elderly people is alone, with nobody to assist them".
The president of Sant'Egidio also said that too many
residencies and hospices for seniors are being created.
"The Italian model instead enabled seniors to live at home,
with family, relatives and neighbors as caregivers. As these
networks are growing weaker, it is necessary to find alternative
solutions, including increasing the number of caregivers".
According to data provided by the Community, 3.8 million
seniors, or 33% of the total, live alone.
Their number in Rome peaks to 41%, or 250,000 people.
Overall, 52.2% of Italians over 85 live on their own.
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