World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

In 2011, the United Nations proclaimed June 15 as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, with the aim of raising awareness of the social problem observed around older people, who are often excluded in certain areas. The world’s population is ageing and most countries are experiencing a growing increase in the number and proportion of older persons. This phenomenon is seen as one of the most important social transformations of the twenty-first century, bringing with it consequences in almost all sectors of society: labor market, financial, demand for goods and services, housing, transport, health services and social protection, as well as for family structure and intergenerational relations. The elderly see how their role in life changes considerably when they retire, and goes from being an active subject to a more passive one. In healthy older adults, with autonomy, an environment with strong family ties and good economic passing, aging can be a satisfactory process. However, in others, situations of loneliness, vulnerability or health complicate the problem requiring accompaniment or specific care. This is usually one of the causes of the change of housing and, in some cases, involves admission to an institution. There is ample evidence that older adults contribute significantly to society in many ways, but they are often stereotypically viewed as an economic burden or as frail and dependent individuals with physical and cognitive impairment. These attitudes hide age-discrimination that is deeply rooted in society, and which can become a reality by promoting it. In many parts of the world, the mistreatment of the elderly goes almost unnoticed. Until recently, this serious social problem was hidden from the public and considered as an essentially private matter. Some actions of abuse and mistreatment usually occur in different daily contexts, at home, with care personnel, in the management of procedures in public-private offices, in means of locomotion and others, and may take various forms, such as physical, mental, emotional or sexual abuse, and abuse of trust in economic matters. It can also be the result of negligence, whether intentional or not. So much so that the World Health Organization (WHO) maintains that between 4% and 6% of older people around the world suffered abuse or mistreatment at some point in their lives, whether physical or emotional. In addition, research suggests that abuse, neglect and violence against older people, both at home and in institutions, are much more prevalent than has been acknowledged. In this sense, one of the biggest difficulties that arise for those who have to accompany or care for their elderly relatives is to find the right person who can provide them with the necessary support. However, the advancement of technology comes to accompany this process, transforming it into something simple, thus providing a new way of caring in homes. This is the case of Cuidlos, a platform recognized as one of the 10 most innovative in home care in LATAM by the IDB LAB, which aims to improve the ecosystem of home care so that people, family members and caregivers can meet, connect and manage their entire relationship more autonomously. Agile and secure anytime, anywhere. The platform allows interested caregivers to register their profile, expose their background, skills, courses and trainings, available schedules, tasks they are willing to perform, as well as their areas of expertise, among other things, to offer their services to the entire community. In order to prioritize a role as important as that of caregiving, the training of caregivers is one of the pillars, and they can access courses and permanent training validated by specialists that improve their ranking and qualification. In this way, families can find the right assistant, organize their tasks and manage all their responsibilities from the cell phone, with notifications, alerts and an intelligent dashboard with all the events of the day 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In summary, the application allows, in three simple steps, to find the most suitable caregiver or companion: 1) download the app available on both IOS and Android, 2) publish a notice or use smart searches, 3) contact the most appropriate caregiver directly from the chat seguro to interview him. In this way, technology comes to collaborate with the problems around old age, offering opportunities for improvement in the homes and environments of adults, providing them with different options to promote an autonomous and meaningful life, support and qualified accompaniment when required, greater protection and security to both relatives, individuals and caregivers thus improving the entire ecosystem. “Visibilizing, protecting and reassessing the place occupied by older people in our society is a long road that we have to travel and promote together. That is why from Cuidlos we want to contribute to society by promoting an ecosystem that allows access to the best possible care of people, providing opportunities to those who have a vocation for service to stand out and be a means to simply and efficiently manage independent living in homes, significantly improving the quality of those who are part of it.”, says Ivan Spollansky, co-founder of the app Take care of them.

Original source in Spanish