In Poland, the number of elderly people is growing rapidly. Some of them are dependent and require care. However, not everyone can count on the help of their relatives, and currently the state provides insufficient support to people losing independence. Therefore, we should strive to create a comprehensive system of care and nursing benefits, so that dependent people and their families are not left to themselves - experts appealed during the conference "Care for dependent people in Poland after 2022 - perspectives, alternatives, proposals"
The number of elderly people in Poland is growing. It is expected that by 2050 the number of people over 65 will increase by 77%. This is due to, inter alia, from the fact that we live longer and longer. However, part of the life span gained is in living with illness (usually several coexisting chronic diseases), which often means dependence.
Virtually the entire burden of caring for seniors, dependent people, falls on the family, which, for various reasons, is not always able to meet its obligations (e.g. children live in other cities, often countries).
In addition, the number of children in the household is declining, which results from the number of births that have been systematically decreasing for many years.
It should also be noted that caring for dependent people is expensive, and will be even more expensive. At the same time, the value of pensions is falling. Future seniors will have less money for their own living, and yet the average retirement pension is already not enough to cover the costs of maintaining a senior.
In view of the inevitable increase in the demand for long-term care and the limitation of the possibility of providing this care by the family, it is necessary to introduce systemic solutions - says prof. Piotr Błędowski from the Institute of Social Economy of the Warsaw School of Economics.
The long-term care system should include the principles of financing these benefits, certification on the degree of disability, organization of community-based, semi-stationary and residential services, professional training of caregivers as well as supervision and quality control of the services provided - emphasizes prof. Błędowski.
Of 13.6 million households included in the nationalin the 2011 census, 30.5% of them (4.1 million) are inhabited by people aged 65 and over. Compared to the previous census of 2002, this is an increase by almost 350,000 farms. In this number, over 1.2 million (30%) are single-person households.
Act on assistance to dependent people
The purpose of the Act on assistance to dependent persons is to increase the availability, comprehensiveness and continuity of care services for people dependent on the help of others.
The Act provides for, inter alia,
- introducing the so-called care check - is a monthly allowance (in the amount from PLN 650 to 1000 per month) that can be spent only on the care of a dependent person. Caregivers of dependent people will be able to pay with it for various services that will relieve them. Thanks to this, they will be able to function on the labor market
- new care leave
- possibility of reimbursement of care costs - applies to retired seniors who look after their senior partner, siblings, sometimes very old parents. Such people already have their retirement pension, but due to the fact that they look after a highly dependent person, they should have a refund for the so-called eligible costs of care
- so-called respite care temporarily relieving the caregiver
- telecare - is a caring service that uses modern technologies. Introducing new technical solutions to care reduces the participation of the family in providing care
New profession: dependent person's assistant
The Act also provides for the creation of a new profession: a dependent person's assistant. Such a person would have to undergo appropriate training and would then be entered in the register. It would also be subject to control, for example, by the employees of the Volunteer Fire Department or the he alth visitor.
It is estimated that thanks to the introduction of the above regulations, there would be approx. 200 thousand people on the market. professional assistants of dependent people. Family members could benefit from foster care to, for example, rest or undergo treatment themselves.