2023-10-10 10:37:34
by Chiara Daina
These are independent apartments with home services on request where you are in the company of other peers or even students. Strongly growing demand
Treating aging not only with medicine but also through a new way of living, with the aim of overcoming social isolation. In Italy, the elderly who live alone, according to Istat, are 4 million. And another 5 million live as a couple without children. Loneliness, as we know, promotes cognitive decline and depressive states, increasing the risk of mortality.
The challenge of longevity, then, must lead to thinking about housing solutions that promote relational and safe life even for those over 65 who maintain autonomy in carrying out daily activities, or who are gradually starting to lose it, but who do not have a network of friends and family to rely on in case of need and to spend their days with.
Who manages protected accommodation and what are the criteria for accessing it
One of the formulas that are spreading in this sense is supported housing (or protected housing). The demand is growing although the supply is still limited and concentrated above all in the large cities of the Centre-North – comments Franco Pesaresi, director of the public personal services company of Jesi (which manages social services on behalf of 21 municipalities in the Marche region). – welfare and socio-health) and member of the Non-self-sufficiency Network -. Assisted accommodation is managed by local authorities, associations, cooperatives and foundations and is aimed at frail elderly people, alone or in couples, still able to look after asthma but who may need some help, for example for cleaning, shopping, preparation of meals. The selection criteria are broad, the important thing is to have good autonomy, even if you use a wheelchair or walker, and not have dementia problems or other cognitive disabilities. One of the two spouses may not be self-sufficient and need a carer.
How supported housing is created
Assisted housing is truly independent apartments, small in size (40-60 square metres), rented and grouped in the same building, where the elderly person is free to live at his or her own pace, to receive visitors and go out when necessary. he wants. With the advantage of being able to enjoy the company of peers and home services on request: from laundry to house cleaning, personal hygiene, delivery of meals, shopping and medicines, hairdresser, accompaniment for medical visits, help getting up and go to bed.
Furthermore, a collective “active concierge” service may be envisaged, which is responsible for collecting requests for help and reporting any critical issues, and monitoring through the presence of operators and rescue devices. The building generally houses common areas – specifies the expert -. For example, a garden and a lounge for reading, watching TV, playing cards and taking part in entertainment activities. In certain cases, for residents the institution can activate the Adi, that is the home medical-nursing assistance service of the ASL, and the Sad, that is the home social help service of the Municipality.
How to apply for sheltered housing
To request a protected studio or two-room apartment, you generally contact the municipal social services or the managing body. The monthly rent varies and may or may not include utilities and the package of services on demand. If the poor elderly person can ask the Municipality to help him pay the rent, inform Pesaresi. A variation of assisted housing is cohousing among the elderly or intergenerational, i.e. between over 65s and university students. The elderly residents, usually no more than five, keep their bedroom and bathroom private and instead share the use of some common spaces such as the kitchen and living room. We need to urgently look at these new forms of housing, which delay as much as possible or completely avoid the institutionalization of the elderly in residential facilities, guaranteeing more sustainable welfare, concludes Pesaresi.
How much do you pay for supported housing
Supported housing can take on different characteristics. Here are some examples. The 18 apartments in via Quarenghi in Milan, managed by the Coopselios cooperative, offer concierge service, catering, cleaning and help with personal hygiene, hairdresser, podiatrist, as well as tele-aid and other ancillary services on demand. The rent ranges from 760 euros for a studio apartment to 1,600 for a two-room apartment, utilities excluded.
The Municipality of Cornaredo, on the outskirts of Milan, is responsible for the Il Melograno centre, which houses eight studio apartments with bedroom, bathroom and kitchenette. Residents have access to a canteen, a laundry service and a common lounge with TV. On the ground floor there is a senior center that tenants can attend. Surveillance during the day is ensured by the doorman, while at night by social welfare workers. The monthly fee is 1,000 euros for a double room and 1,100 for a single room. To apply, you must submit an application to social services. The elderly person is subjected to a cognitive interview and his doctor will have to fill out a form attesting to his self-sufficiency.
After Covid we had a sharp increase in requests. These mini accommodations respond to a social need linked to the difficulty of self-managing following a bereavement, due to a state of depression, distant children and the lack of a social network around, explains manager Davide Faranda. In Jesi, in the province of Ancona, the Mater Misericordiae complex, owned by the Congregation of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mercy, consists of six apartments of approximately 50 square meters equipped with bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen and emergency call. Included in the fee, of 650-700 euros, are: utilities, nursing intervention on medical prescription, cleaning. And in the adjacent RSA: canteen, physiotherapy, memory exercises, entertainment activities, music and cinema.
Finally, the Municipality of Pisa inaugurated in January 2023 eighteen new public housing apartments reserved for the over 65s in the ranking with common spaces on the ground floor for recreational activities (also with the participation of autistic children), gymnastics courses and integration projects with young people, organized by the third sector and open to all the elderly in the neighbourhood.
Cohousing: from Trento to Acerra, but there are still few initiatives
Cohousing initiatives for over 65s to overcome loneliness are still few but are starting to take hold. In Acerra, in the Neapolitan area, the La Fenice cooperative offers a house with 7 beds for autonomous and semi-autonomous elderly people, monitored 24 hours a day by operators, with home cook, cleaning and laundry service. There are no visiting hours and the waiting list follows the chronological order in which requests are sent. Up to an ISEE of 15 thousand euros the rent, of 1,500-2,000 euros, can be paid by the Municipality. In the province of Trento, the Sad cooperative manages two cohousing for self-sufficient elderly people (Casa Tassullo and Casa Cles, up to 7 places each) and a third intergenerational one (Casa alla Vela), between 8 elderly people and 4 university students, who take turns keeping them company . In the future there will be 25 places for seniors and 20 for students. The fee for the first courses is 1,700 euros (all included), for the second courses it is 400 euros (the amount only includes accommodation).
October 10, 2023 (modified October 10, 2023 | 08:54)
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