Frail elderly, experts sound the alarm: reform at a standstill but 10 million are waiting for it
From the Pact for a new welfare on non-self-sufficiency the call for the relaunch of Law 33 with a focus on home care, the quality of care in RSAs and the streamlining of pathways to obtain available benefits
4' min read
4' min read
The non-self-sufficiency reform, presented as a flagship of the government's policies for the elderly and now approved in 2023, is experiencing an impasse and 'it must be relaunched'. The Pact for a New Welfare on Non-self-sufficiency, formed by a network of more than 60 associations, which had contributed to writing the rules for taking care of the most fragile elderly, since the time of the Draghi executive, is asking forcefully for this. But today, two years after law 33/2023, the experts led by coordinator Cristiano Gori express 'deep concern', in the face of demographic ageing certified by the latest Istat data, which is not matched by an improvement in the years of life spent in good health. On the contrary.
The call to action against the demographic alarm and the delays to be overcome therefore impose an acceleration and 'the only possible path is a common commitment of all the institutional, political and social actors of the country,' warn from the Pact, which extends its hand and urges meetings capable of unblocking the wheels. Also noting how the maxi-implementing decree 29/2024 has in fact partially rewritten and blurred the original framework law.
The "unfinished"
.In particular, the 'Pact' reviews major unfinished business. The National Elderly Assistance System (Snaa), a central pillar that should have promoted the synergy between health, social and Inps, 'has been postponed', note the experts who immediately contested this change to the framework law, revised by the 'decretone' of 2024.
The same fate has befallen the reform of the accompanying allowance, replaced by the experimentation of the bonus for 2025-2026 destined for an audience of less than 30 thousand recipients, as well as the activation of specific home services for the non-self-sufficient elderly. On the other hand, the new unified multidimensional assessment, which is also necessary to simplify the paths of the elderly and caregivers in requesting interventions, is still 'in the process of being drafted', while the intervention aimed at promoting quality in nursing homes (Rsa) through more time available to operators for each elderly person and the improvement of rooms and common spaces is branded as 'being postponed'.
Numbers
"Non-self-sufficiency involves 10 million people in Italy, including the elderly who are affected, the family members who care for them, and the professionals involved. The public response system has been under strain for some time, squeezed between its own criticalities and the vertiginous expansion of the elderly population,' the Pact recalls in its appeal.
The latest ISTAT figures confirm the urgency of appropriate interventions: in the face of the historical minimum of 1.18 children per woman in Italy in 2024, we are in an increasingly old country with 14.5 million elderly people - of which 4.59 million over 80 - equal to 24.7 per cent of the population. Life expectancy at birth continues to lengthen, but with longevity potential disability also grows: while women have a life expectancy of 85.5 years, the expectation of good health for them falls to 56.6 years (the lowest since 2014) while men, who are less long-lived, have only a few more 'good years' but do not reach 60 years lived without frailty.
