The Platform for Active Aging proposes the creation of an Elderly Council which would promote the interests of this category of people on the public agenda. The Platform also says that a legislative proposal is needed for the social protection of the elderly, as well as a national strategy with concrete measures and actions to support the elderly. The nomenclature of social services needs to be reviewed periodically, and now it needs to be supplemented with certain new services.
The Platform’s secretary Cristina Railean told a press conference that our country lacks a vision, a coherent concept of social assistance for the elderly. At different levels of decision-making, there is a diffuse understanding of the solutions and policies that need to be developed to ensure the right of older people to social assistance.
There is also a lack of a normative and methodological framework regarding the organization and functioning of services for the elderly. In this respect, it is proposed to develop and periodically review this regulatory framework, in particular by developing an operational manual with procedures for organizing petitioning in town halls and social assistance departments.
The Platform for Active Aging finds that the systemic development of social services is stagnating. In some cases, due to lack of financial resources, the activity of a service may be limited or it may be closed. Or the number of beneficiaries is reduced. The Platform suggests assessing the social services needs of older people at least once every 5 years, in order to determine the minimum guaranteed package of social services.
The Platform also recommends that social service providers be mandatorily accredited, in order to avoid the risk of low-quality services. It is also recommended that financial resources be allocated equitably for social services, through special purpose transfers from the national public budget to the budget of each administrative-territorial unit. Now the services are financed not based on needs, but on the availability of financial resources, concluded the members of the Platform for Active Aging.
