Lack of self-sufficiency: the ‘Grandparents’ Day’ initiative forms part of the Plan for the over-70s, which integrates health and social care

With the go-ahead from CIPA – the Interministerial Committee for Policies in Support of the Elderly, established by the Reform on Non-Self-Sufficiency (Law 33/2023) – a crucial piece has fallen into place to complete the jigsaw of addressing frailty in our country. It is perhaps no coincidence that this piece of the jigsaw has fallen into place to coincide with Grandparents’ Day on 2 October, during a meeting chaired by the Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Policies, Maria Teresa Bellucci, and attended by the Minister herself, Marina Calderone, alongside the stakeholders who have supported the finalisation of the Plan.

This comes a few months after the previous plan, approved on 17 March, which was specifically aimed at people under 70 who are unable to look after themselves, and under which 3 billion had been earmarked for the three-year period 2025–2027, part of which will also be used for the beneficiaries of this latest document, which has just been given the go-ahead. Whilst the measures set out in the previous plan ranged from social housing to home care and integrated social care, right through to respite care for families, today those measures are partly included – but strengthened – in the plan for the most vulnerable over-70s.

The new Plan, comprising around 60 pages plus annexes and approved by CIPA – which will now be implemented by the Regions – “aims to strengthen home care, simplify access to services and boost the social and healthcare workforce, with the aim of placing the elderly person and their right to receive adequate care and support at the centre”, explains Palazzo Chigi, which, in a statement, emphasised the “turning point” in the care of the country’s approximately 4 million elderly people who are not self-sufficient. This was followed by the announcement that, as this is one of the “pillars of the Pact for the Elderly, “the financial resources allocated to the Plan for the three-year period 2025–2027 amount to over 1.5 billion euros, to be drawn from the Fund for those who are not self-sufficient”. Explaining the rationale behind the initiative, Minister Calderone said: “Italia is one of the nations with the highest life expectancy in the world,” she said, “and the growing number of older people requires us to strengthen care and support policies, in order to provide increasingly appropriate responses to a changing reality. This is a major challenge for our future, an investment in people’s wellbeing through the development of a care model capable of supporting the ageing process with appropriate services, a focus on individuals and support for families.”

The Plan establishes an “innovative model for care and the provision of social and health services”, according to a further statement from Palazzo Chigi. A central role will be entrusted to the Single Access Points (PUA) in community care homes, which will serve as the point of contact for citizens and families. Elderly people will be able to contact the PUA, undergo a multidimensional assessment by a specialist team and, if necessary, receive a personalised care plan (Pai). The PAI will set out the care objectives, the necessary interventions and the appropriate professionals to ensure that older people who are not self-sufficient receive an integrated, coordinated and continuous care pathway.

“On Grandparents’ Day,” added Deputy Minister Bellucci, “the Government is taking a decisive step forward in implementing the mandate to reform policies for older people. We are placing the individual at the centre, along with their dignity and their right to receive appropriate care and support. The strength of this plan lies not only in the substantial resources allocated and the clear, forward-looking guidelines for local authorities, but also in the broad participation encouraged during its drafting, which involved trade unions, third-sector organisations, professional bodies and the scientific community.”