Support policies for the elderly in situations of dependency: Europe and Brasil

Abstract

This text describes and discusses policies of long term care offered to dependent elderly people. The objective is to analyze the content and strategies that guide the formulation of the so-called “dependency policies” in some European states, seeking guidance for the formulation of actions related to the same issue in the Brazilian case. The knowledge bases are official documents and scientific articles that analyze the institutionalization of the proposals. The study shows: all the countries analyzed included policies on dependency within the framework of their social security system; some offer total protection, others, only partial, which serve the elderly and the family caregiver; in none of them the elderly and their caregiver fail to receive care they need. In Brazil, there are some local experiences that meet the requirements of comprehensive care. Initiatives of Belo Horizonte and São Paulo are narrated. However, the aforementioned experiences are not a policy. They are successful cases that can evolve to increase social awareness or simply disappear. The need for the issue addressed in this article to be taken seriously is imperative, due to the inexorable fact of the accelerate growth of the long-lived population, particularly those aged 80th and over, the most vulnerable.