Board established to work on national strategy to combat solitude among the elderly
Parliamentary Secretary for Persons with Disability and Active Ageing Anthony Agius Decelis has announced a board which is to work on a national strategy against solitude among elderly people.
The board is made up of a community of professionals who will study issues faced by older members of the community, along with possible measures to address the problems.
Agius Decelis explained that the board would spend six months studying the situation. “Our studies show that 75 per cent of elderly people in Malta are happy and enjoy a good quality of life, but we must focus our attention on the other 25 per cent to improve their quality of life.”
The parliamentary secretary said that a number of factors led to solitude among elderly people, and that the board would be looking into how best to deal with the phenomenon. “The government does not just focus on numbers. We won’t be satisfied until all elderly people are living a good quality of life.”
Agius Decelis said that to combat solitude, everyone must play their role, including the Church, NGOs and he himself as Parliamentary Secretary for Active Ageing.
He said that the situations had to be studied meticulously by the board, which includes six professionals. These experts will be analysing the situation and discussing a way forward. He mentioned that the government had already introduced a number of services, such as improved public transport and a day centre at the St Vincent de Paul Long-Term Care Facility to continue pushing for more inclusion for the elderly.
“I wish to study further the situation to improve the lives of our elderly; to make sure that no one is socially excluded and that everyone is integrated in society.”
Mgr Joe Vella Gauci, who is a member of the board, said that solitude is a universal problem affecting all sectors of society, particularly the elderly. “European statistics show that a third to half of the elderly population suffers from solitude.”
He said that solitude was the result of a lack of family and friends, lack of transport, and other individual reasons. He said that solitude could lead to complete isolation from the rest of society, and that the consequences were serious, leaving the individual with no identity, stress, depression, and at increased risk of suicide and chronic disease.
“It is our collective responsibility to address this together and provide meaningful contact among one another to tackle solitude.” He called on all stakeholders to address the issue, and for all groups to work collectively to combat the issue of solitude among the elderly. “Combating loneliness means preventing exclusion, poverty, loss of autonomy and psychological distress. We need to understand this problem and address it collectively to limit the problem and ensure a good quality of life.”