More than half of the Spanish population (58%) consider that resources against unwanted loneliness are not accessible and two out of three believe that they are insufficient.
This is clear from the report Perspectives and good practices in social intervention for the elderly in third sector entities in Spaina project developed by the Employment and Social Inclusion Domain of Santa Maria la Real Foundationwith the collaboration and funding of the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and the 2030 Agenda.
To obtain the results, the Foundation questioned this year 1,509 people over 18 years oldof which more than 300 are over 65 years old.
Two thirds believe coverage is insufficient
In this sense, the study shows that resources to combat unwanted loneliness are not accessible to the elderly population (mainly women) and two out of three indicate that The coverage of these resources is insufficient.
The social research carried out by the Santa María la Real Foundation has made it possible to identify needs, good practices and possible solutions in terms of social intervention with elderly people in three specific lines: active and healthy aging, digital divide and unwanted loneliness.
Furthermore, the mapping of resources intended for the elderly population in Spain carried out during the project reveals that three out of five resources are executed by third sector entities but that 8% of the projects developed by these entities They do not exceed the year of execution.
On the other hand, the study reveals that Perception of accessibility continues to be “negative” in resources aimed at reducing the digital divide, since 49.1% of the general population considers that these types of resources are “little or not accessible at all”.
Likewise, he points out that older people tend to know especially resources guiding active and healthy aging (89.4%) but he adds that this is partly due to the high visibility of traditional services such as residential or day and night centers.
Likewise, this indicates that 41% of older people know at least a resource for digital inclusion and just over half (58%) know of resources to combat unwanted loneliness.
He also emphasizes that the resources related to active and healthy aging obtain the lowest average scores (global average 3.77 points) compared to those oriented towards unwanted loneliness (4.09 points) and the digital divide (3.86 points).
Dissemination and information
On the other hand, the main request expressed by the elderly population to improve their well-being and their access to resources concerns improve the dissemination and information of available resourcespaying particular attention to making it accessible and adapted.
Finally, after the study carried out, the Foundation proposed to integrate “effectively and efficiently” the gender perspective in policies, projects and programs related to aging; consolidate the culture of evaluation and monitoring of programs executed by third sector entities, as well as the dissemination of their results and learning; and improve the dissemination and information of services offered to seniors in each territory to ensure their knowledge and allow as many people as possible to benefit from them.
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