Civil Society, Europe, Headlines, Human Rights

SPAIN: Elderly Rights on Track, But Still Long Way to Go

Tito Drago

MADRID, Oct 1 2008 (IPS) - On the International Day of Older Persons, celebrated Wednesday, elderly people in Spain can look back and say that their situation has improved significantly over the last few years, but that measures still need to be taken to attain full respect for their rights.

The officer responsible for this issue in the national trade union federation Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), Juan Antonio Sánchez, told IPS that the majority of elderly people continue to be disadvantaged and neglected.

Above all, he noted, it is necessary to implement the dependency act, for which the regulatory framework must first be completed and sufficient funds must be allocated to create a network for the provision of the services contemplated in the law.

One of the key aspects of this law, which according to the CCOO must be addressed as soon as possible, is the right to access adequate, safe and affordable housing, as home and neighbourhood are particularly important aspects of the lives of retired and elderly people, because that is where they spend most of their day.

Which is why “older persons must be able to access such housing at affordable prices and without being discriminated against on any account, be it nationality, ethnicity, gender or any other reason,” said Sánchez.

This sector of the population tends to be supportive of each other. According to a report by the Democratic Union of Pensioners and Retirees of Spain (UDP), released Wednesday, the elderly have a more favourable opinion of their age group than what they believe society as a whole has of them.

Nine out of 10 elderly persons surveyed consider themselves to be solidarity-oriented, while eight of every 10 see themselves as affectionate, cheerful and fun, and some 70 percent perceive themselves as productive and lively.

The survey also reveals that 68 percent of the elderly respondents consider themselves healthy, with the lowest percentage for a positive trait being registered by those who think of themselves as wise, which nonetheless stands at 63 percent.

In contrast, the percentage of older persons who interiorise images with negative features is very low. Thus, less than eight percent admit to selfishness, being a nuisance and grumpiness, 12 percent to being sad or ignorant, and only 15 percent consider themselves boring.

Caritas held a series of demonstrations, the largest of which took place at the Santa Lucía home for the elderly, established and run by the Catholic humanitarian organisation in Madrid.

A sign on the front of the home displays a quote from the English philosopher Francis Bacon that reads: “Old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.”

The Caritas residence houses people over 70 years of age and “most of our residents are widows and also men who have worked all their lives in agriculture or in very precarious jobs and have tiny pensions to live on,” said the director of the home, José Antonio Jiménez.

Most of them can barely pay for 20 to 30 percent of their expenses, with the rest being covered by Caritas, which also receives financial aid from the Madrid provincial government. In 2007, the NGO contributed more than 300,000 euros in funds (some 450,000 dollars).

Forty-one people work at the centre, both in maintenance tasks and providing the various services enjoyed by the elderly residents, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and field trips and other leisure activities.

According to Jiménez, the work of the caregivers demands great dedication, as a majority of the residents are in wheelchairs or must use geriatric recliners, and others cannot fend for themselves and need to be fed, in addition to requiring other care.

In particular, Jiménez highlighted the work of four Brazilian nuns who came to Madrid two years ago and work day and night at the centre.

Thanks to their dedication, elderly people who are simply waiting to reach the end of their lives can do so in a warm setting. Jiménez mentioned two residents who recently passed away, for whom “the doctors had already said there was nothing else to be done, and who we thought would be better off here with us and their families instead of leaving them at the hospital where they would feel lonely.”

Caritas runs 44 day care centres for elderly people and 50 residential centres in Spain.

In Spain 7.5 million people, or 17 percent of the population, are over the age of 65 – a proportion that will grow over the next few years.

At present there are two million people over 80, a number that is expected to grow according to projections by the United Nations, which forecasts that by 2050 Spain will be the third country in the world with the largest number of people 80 years of age and older, which will amount to 12 percent of the population.

Sánchez quoted the executive director of the U.N. Population Fund, Thoraya Obeid of Saudi Arabia, who said that it is time to acknowledge the significant contributions that elderly people make to their families, their communities and society in general.

He said that as this year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “we have a great opportunity to strengthen the dialogue between generations, and to renew our commitment to protect the fundamental rights of all people.”

The International Day of Older Persons was declared in 1991 by the U.N. General Assembly with the aim of acknowledging the contribution of the elderly to human and economic development, as well as highlighting the opportunities and challenges associated with the ageing of the world’s population.