A very interesting conference took place on Thursday 11 April on the topic of “Services for the Third Age” and the future activities of the elderly which highlighted how necessary it is, through a multidisciplinary approach, to take into account the social and cultural changes of the Western world along the span of life. This is the message launched yesterday by the speakers during the conference “Senility: don’t call us old”, held in the Chapter Room of the convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, thanks to the initiative of the monthly magazine “Ore12Sanità” with the patronage of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità.
“To improve the longevity of Italians, urgent interventions are needed in the political, health and social fields, the data on the ‘elderly’ released by Eurostat confirm that Italy is the EU country with the largest share of over 65s compared to the total: 24 per cent one hundred, practically one in four residents”
“Due to the important changes that have occurred in recent decades at a social and cultural level, today senility certainly requires a different approach on the part of institutions, healthcare workers and communities” said Bove, introducing the works. Fewer children are born, we have smaller family units, often characterized by instability, and therefore less capable of meeting the needs of family members in need of assistance (primarily non-self-sufficient elderly people. We must always keep in mind that our seniors are a precious asset for the community”
Clergy, university professors, social workers, doctors and politicians intervened to discuss the delicate problems of this phase of life and propose solutions.
The works, opened by Katrin Bove, editor of “Ore12Sanità”, who explained the meaning of the initiative and moderated by the journalists Marzia Roncacci (Rai TG2) and Emma Evangelista, were attended by the Honorable Simona Baldassarre, Councilor for Culture, Equal Opportunities, Youth and Family Policies, Lazio Region, which underlined the importance of the family and new co-housing initiatives and Father Carlo Casalone, representative of the Pontifical Academy for Life, who quoted the words of the Holy Father underlining how the elderly are “the roots that young people need to grow” Father Casalone’s reflection focused on the need for a new intergenerational pact that comes to life from the needs and state of the elderly who experience the condition “of loneliness which can be compensated with the need to encourage profitable exchanges between different generations”.
The debate offered different perspectives on the topic, focusing on the needs of the “new age” which is faced with a dynamic and technological reality, as well as with the new opportunities offered for the care of the elderly.
The first session, of a technical and political nature, was attended by Andrea Costa, an expert on the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) of the Ministry of Health, who underlined how the PNRR represents an opportunity, even if it cannot be considered the solution definition of the problems, highlighting the importance of an approach based on listening and sharing. Francesco Di Ciommo, Vice-Rector of the Luiss “Guido Carli” University, spoke about the social crisis that the West is going through, accentuated by a dramatic decline in birth rates, adding how important it is to valorise the senior segment of the population, often dominated by consumerism induced by unbridled capitalism.
He underlined how, both in the academic world and in the medical profession, the age between 65 and 70 is often considered a time of decline rather than a period of great wisdom that can still and more profitably be made available to the community .
Giuseppe Quintavalle, extraordinary commissioner of the ASL Roma1, highlighted the effectiveness of the Italian National Health Service, underlining that in Italy there are over two thousand over centenarians, which is thanks to the country’s good healthcare. He also addressed the issue of loneliness within the homes of the elderly, demonstrating how timely intervention can improve the psychophysical, social and relational aspect of elderly people, who often, even in the absence of obvious pathologies, show discomfort due to loneliness.
Sebastiano Capurso, National President of ANASTE (National Association for Third Age Services), underlined the need for a different approach to the elderly person, since today’s elderly are more active and performing than in the past. He highlighted how in Italy there are only three hundred thousand people in retirement homes, much lower numbers than European standards, compared to 4 million of our non-self-sufficient elderly compatriots.
In the second session, of a scientific nature, the doctors Francesco Gabbrielli, director of the National Center for Telemedicine Guidelines, spoke, highlighting how telemedicine in Italy is still at an experimental stage, but which could offer a significant contribution in areas such as chronicity, multi-morbidity and prevention. Francesco Landi, director of the Department of Aging Sciences of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart and member of the Scientific Board of Italia Longeva, emphasized the importance of talking about longevity rather than senility, focusing on the quality of life already in young age.
Nicola Mangialardi, director emeritus of Vascular Surgery at the San Camillo-Forlanini Hospital in Rome, spoke mainly about prevention and the importance of preventing pathologies through screening programs, which is the real game changer with respect to longevity, adding life healthy, physically and mentally, over the years and not only with care, but above all with some daily attention: nutrition, physical activity, social activity.
Renato Scienza, director of the European telemedicine project “Health Optimum”, underlined the importance of healthcare centralization, taking the Veneto model as an example and the effectiveness of local care for chronic patients who can also be assisted remotely thanks to telemedicine support.
To conclude the work Walter Rodinò, of Ore12 Group, who recalled how “one year ago Ore12Sanità promoted a conference on adolescents, a resource of inestimable value for our society, today we witnessed a useful and profitable conference on the elderly, a heritage of inestimable value for our society”. Finally, a metaphor to summarize what emerged from the fruitful debate: “young and old are like two wings that must beat together and forcefully to fly towards a better future”.
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