In Italy, the average age of people entering the RSA, assisted healthcare residences, is growing.
It has gone from 84.7 years in 2013 to 85.9 in 2019. And the number of guests who need assistance to eat is increasing: from 28.15% in 2016 to 34.07% in 2019. study conducted by the Rsa Observatory of the Cattaneo University of Castellanza (Varese).
According to the analysis, Italy has 19 beds per 1000 inhabitants: a figure far below the average of OECD countries (47 per thousand). The Italian RSAs have a total turnover of about 10 billion euros every year.
"63% of women over 50 - explains Antonio Sebastiano, director of the observatory - perform the function of informal caregiver in their family unit. But the structure of the Italian family has changed, and in the future there will be fewer and fewer caregivers and it will increase the pressure on services ". "Italy - he adds - is in the rear in Europe both for residential care, with its 270,000 beds, and for home: we must invest in both, with a view to complementarity". For Franco Massi, president of Uneba, the National Union of Social Welfare Institutions and Initiatives, "opposing home care and residential reception is wrong: instead, they are two nodes in the network of services for the elderly. In between, there are others ,such as day centers and sheltered accommodation. All must start from the need and create answers. All must have the same goal: to live well, with appropriate care and due attention, of the elderly person. Your well-being ".
