The number of seniors and... needs towards them is growing
According to recent sociological studies, Poland is facing a huge challenge: a declining number of births of children and an exponential increase in the elderly. The consequences of this phenomenon will affect Polish society on a variety of levels, not just economic. Based on statistics from the Central Statistical Office, at the end of 2022 the number of people aged 60 and over was 9.8 million, up 0.7 percent from the previous year. According to Eurostat's EURO-POP2019 population projection, in 2050 Poland's population will be 34.1 million, 3.85 million fewer than today, while the number of elderly people will increase to 10.3 million, or by almost 3.3 million people. The aging of the population is also associated with an increase in the needs of this group. In the face of this challenge, it is already necessary to implement multidirectional systemic changes, including against all forms of violence against the elderly.
Elderly victims of violence
A rarely addressed, even neglected and silenced by the public is violence against the elderly in society.
- We doctors are reminded of elder abuse rarely, usually around holidays, May Day and long weekends, when EDs and emergency rooms fill up with people seventy, eighty plus and their relatives. We hear that Mommy hasn't wanted to drink or eat for two days, Daddy has stopped walking for two weeks. For two days, two weeks, two months... (...) then we find that health issues have not been taken care of for years... - with this perspective agrees Agnieszka Skoczylas...
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