You have to go back almost 40 years, but it was such an impactful moment that I clearly remember every detail of that winter day. A day that, at the same time, would become so hot that it still comforts me today. At the end of the afternoon, a huge storm hit Montijo. As was customary, the return home after classes was done on foot, along a long, almost open road that today is practically completely covered by buildings and asphalt. As soon as I opened the fragile umbrella, the strong wind bent it in half, but I suspect that even intact it would be of little use in the face of so much water. As soon as I entered my street, wet from head to toe, I noticed that at my bedroom window there were two women looking in my direction. Florinda and Rosalina, my grandmothers.
As I approached the gate, in the late L4 of Bairro da Liberdade, they waved me off and took me inside the house. I went up the stairs and the door was already open. On their faces, a mixture of astonishment, relief and joy that I record with affection. The moments that followed were pure tenderness. While one helped me dry, the other brought me clothes to wear; while one removed soaked books and notebooks from my backpack, the other prepared me a snack. And so, in an instant, I was sitting comfortably in the living room, with toast and hot tea in my hands, watching cartoons. This is a very personal reason, but it is far from being the only one, because it is so difficult for me to see how the elderly population is treated in the country today, without all the dignity they deserve.
In recent days, two pieces of news confirm this. First, data from the Portuguese Victim Support Association (APAV) which shows a 29% increase in the number of victims over 65 years of age who are supported by the institution, after being the target of mistreatment by partners and other family members, such as children or siblings. Afterwards, as the newspaper reported Publicthe number of elderly people who remain admitted to hospitals, without clinical need, is also rising, as they have no response from Social Security regarding placement in a home.
Now add to this loneliness. The increasing difficulty in accessing healthcare. The accelerated digitalization of countless services, which forces elderly people who barely know how to use a cell phone to have to talk to robots when they need help. The meager reforms they receive do not keep up with the rise in prices for basic goods and medicines, resulting in an increase in the poverty rate among the elderly (as revealed by Pordata in October). It is easy to conclude that, in recent decades, the vote of the elderly population has been fought for in electoral campaigns, with promises and guarantees of all kinds, but then little or nothing truly structural is done to solve their problems.
What we see, reflected in the news and official statistics, is that the situation only tends to get worse. The Florindas and Rosalinas of this country deserve better. And this is a question of Social Justice and good human principles that future generations cannot ignore.
Executive Editor of Diário de Notícias