The economic situation has a very strong impact on the health situation of the elderly, as indicated by as many as 98 percent of those surveyed in an opinion poll conducted by the Coalition "To Help the Dependent." Not only are seniors choosing to go to private appointments less and less often, but they also don't always buy medicines written by a doctor on a prescription. More and more communities are calling for an extension of access to the free medication program to people over 70.
The data is alarming. Seniors can't afford medicines and private visits, and queues for services are too long
Published May 11, 2023 13:22
It turns out that the biggest problem for seniors is the excessive prices of prescription drugs and very long waiting times for medical services, including those related to institutional care, long-term nursing care, as well as rehabilitation.
- 86 percent believe that seniors do not have adequate access to medical and nursing care. The one-week or even two-week wait time to see a primary care physician is too long. One can wait up to six months for long-term nursing care. This is a very long time," stresses Magdalena Osinska-Kurzywilk, president of the Coalition "To Help the Dependent.
Of particular concern, medicines are the second category of purchases, after groceries, in which older people are looking to save money. Nearly 90 percent indicate that they face too high a price when filling prescriptions. A solution to this problem could be to increase the group of people covered by the free medication access program.
- There must not be a situation in which a senior citizen has to choose between incurring living expenses and buying medicines. We should strive to ensure that the elderly do not have such dilemmas. At the end of March, the Council of Patients' Organizations made an appeal to the Minister of Health to expand the availability of free medicines to a younger population: people over 70," points out Grzegorz Blazevich, deputy Patients' Ombudsman.
The health condition of seniors was also significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Due to the severance of social relations, there was a high risk of exclusion of the elderly. As a result, one of the basic social needs - a sense of security - was shaken.
- A large number of seniors have lost the meaning and will to live. All this has been compounded by loneliness, which, even without the pandemic, is a huge problem, both in Poland and around the world. The situation of isolation led to a worsening of this phenomenon. Seniors were limiting contacts. All this has affected the health of the elderly, especially mental health," says Elzbieta Bojanowska, director of the Institute of Labor and Social Affairs.
The way to solve this problem is to be activation activities, undertaken in concert by units with different profiles.
