‘Elderly still second class citizens,’ third-age observatory says

There is an urgent need for effective measures to deal with abuse and neglect of the elderly, the third-age observatory stated on Thursday, on the occasion of international elder awareness day.

“The elderly population is particularly vulnerable to abuse due to [their] isolation, dependency and cognitive impairment, and its recognition is not easy. Such incidents often remain hidden with many cases going unreported or unnoticed, leaving victims on the verge of physical and psychological collapse,” the observatory said in its statement.

Speaking on CyBC’s morning programme, spokesperson for the observatory, Demos Antoniou, said Cyprus still lags behind in caring for its elderly in numerous ways.

“We don’t even have updated statistics to go on,” Antoniou said, “the most recent data are from 2017, when Spavo reported 826 complaints of abuse by people over 60.”

Another other ongoing problem, Antoniou said, is the fact that for a population of 250 to 260,000 elderly, there were only three gerontologists on the island and no specialised medical centres.

A legal framework for improvement of nursing homes is still pending, as are recommendations for seventy specific actions drawing on best-practices, drafted by a conglomerate of eighty organisations working with the elderly.

“The elderly remain second or third class citizens,” Antoniou said, referring to the lack of funding and support for organisations involved with their welfare.

The observatory rep called the problem of poor elderly care a “ticking time-bomb” for society as the those aged over 65 already make up over 15 per cent of the population, a proportion which is steadily rising.

On a slightly more hopeful note, Antoniou brought up the concept of the “silver economy”, the idea that elder care, senior tourism, and assisted living facilities could in fact be sources of revenue, rescuing the younger demographic on the island from unemployment.