Isolation and loneliness in the over 65s distance you from health: only 9 points compared to 91 for the general population. Isolation and poor contact with the outside world are an indicator of malaise, loneliness, in fact, negatively correlates with mental and physical health, contributes to a decrease in the quality of life in general, to the quality of sleep, and to the development of stress and depression. The tendency towards isolation triggers a demotivation that is difficult to counteract, so some individuals, if not entire sections of the population, become ‘invisible’. These are some of the scores recorded by the Report on the Proximity to Health Index of the Health, Wellbeing and Resilience Observatory of the Bruno Visentini Foundation.
Mental health and economic fragility raise new alarm bells
The taxonomy of the Health Proximity Index for the over 65s takes into consideration 3 contexts (individual and social relationships, organizational system, living places and environment) with 23 domains representing the areas of interest described by 75 indicators. The Proximity of Health index over 65 shows an increasingly less close health for the elderly population, reaching an all-time low of 82 points out of 100. The greatest alarm comes from the context relating to the Individual and social relations, which reports a value of only 66 points. The Individual and Social Relations context for the elderly population is also the one that shows the greatest negative gap compared to the similar measurement conducted in the general population (66 points against 101)
In addition to isolation, the performance of the “mental health” domain is poor, with the elderly obtaining only 53 points from the 100 points recorded in 2017. The elderly report symptoms of depression, low satisfaction with their lives and free time.
“The isolation of the over 65s should be considered a health risk factor” underlines Professor Carusi – Coordinator of the Observatory and Adjunct Professor LUISS Business School. “Istat defined it as a new social emergency already in 2020, when it identified 40% of those over 74 as lonely people. Yet, it is still a problem that is still little considered, opaque, if not invisible. And the loneliest often seem to be the self-sufficient elderly people who are not looked after on a daily basis”.
The exposure of the elderly population to the worsening of “economic fragility” caused by the downward drift of the indicators dedicated to the “risk of poverty” and “absolute poverty” deserves careful reflection.
The topics will be covered in the next Symposium on the Proximity of Health of the FBV Health, Wellbeing and Resilience Observatory entitled “The almost elderly: health and well-being of the over 65 population” which will be held on May 28th at 3.30 pm in the Toti room of Roman campus of LUISS Guido Carli in viale Romania, 32.
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