Ageing is the subject of the article written by Carina Dantas.

“We have timidly discussed ageing. What we have not discussed is the concerted medium- and long-term strategy to transfigure the country according to this new reality, exploring its opportunities.”

In the Euromonitor International study, the reference to older populations is based on the dependency radio. This ranking says that our birth rate is extraordinarily low and that we have fewer and fewer people of working age, partly due to emigration in recent years.

The United Nations foresees that in 2030 Portugal will rise to the third place as the most aged country in the world, with an average age of 50.2 years. As a consequence, there will be implications for our pension and social security system. As well as additional pressure on the National Health Service.

The article reports the lack of a strategy to transfigure the country according to this reality. There is a need for a public policy strategy that guarantees the sustainability of the social and health sectors, and that allows and encourages the adoption of new models that ensure better care for citizens and families – in health, social, community, technology and infrastructure. It is necessary to create personalized services tailored to the needs of each person, which enhance the prevention and detriment of treatment and medication.

A joint proposal will be made, ten years ago, that will take serious measures in these various areas simultaneously and so that we can create conditions for people to be happy, well cared for and to create value in their communities, even in an aging country.

These themes, and many others complementary to the context of Social Economy, were discussed at the “Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation Forum”, integrated in the 2019 edition of Portugal Economia Social, which took place between December 10 and 11, at the Congress Centre of Lisbon.

Read the entire article here