Filenews 11 October 2025 - by Marilena Panayi
Services non-existent or almost non-existent. Day care centers, creative employment, medical and nursing services, operate rudimentarily, abuse, inadequate care and neglect tend to become a daily phenomenon with the perpetrators remaining unpunished due to the inability of the victims to proceed with complaints. Their daily life is based, in many cases, on a domestic helper/caregiver who often abandons them.
Transportation to and from health care facilities or other government services is a Golgotha since even the bus routes are not enough to meet the real needs without hassle. Accessing bank accounts and withdrawing cash is a real torment. The digitization of everything, the new way of social exclusion and isolation.
All the "common secrets" of our time are recorded in detail in the two reports submitted by the Parliament of the Elders to the parliamentary committees on Health and Labour and Social Welfare last Thursday.
The two reports, which were discussed in preparatory sessions of the competent committees of the Parliament of the Elders with the respective parliamentary committees, include a series of problems faced by the elderly of Cyprus in mountainous and remote areas as well as in urban centers.
The main message of the Elders is the obvious: "The elderly are not a burden of society but the foundation of society".
Abuse and neglect: Cases of elder abuse, as stated by the Parliament of the Elders, "appear more and more often nowadays, and many of the victims are unfortunately unable to deal with it, as there are data that prevent them from even filing a complaint".
Dependence on caregivers and sudden abandonment: Many older people rely on domestic helpers every day for their care and safety. However, the phenomenon of their sudden and unannounced abandonment by caregivers is often observed, usually to find another job.
Difficulty in accessing health services: The provision of health services in mountainous and remote areas is limited to the rural medical centers of the State Services Organization, since the development of private structures is minimal to non-existent. Rural medical centers, however, as pointed out in the relevant report, are operating or more correctly under-functioning due to rudimentary staffing with medical and nursing staff.
Transportation is a golgotha: "The movement of the elderly to health services is an important issue for many communities, especially in remote or rural areas."
"With a view to the frequent use of buses by the elderly who no longer drive, an increase in the frequency of routes, an extension of coverage in areas where there is a need, as well as a revision of the 60-minute time limit between two transfers, as time is insufficient for people who move, especially from remote rural areas, resulting in an increase in their travel costs."
Access to bank accounts is a torment: Difficulties in transportation and reduced bus routes make it difficult for the elderly to secure access to their bank accounts, after the closure of almost all branches of banking institutions in mountainous and remote areas.
"Everyone knows that the mobility of the elderly is reduced for various reasons and the inability to even make a simple transaction to meet their needs is another obstacle, making them feel side-lined and unable to maintain their autonomy."
Exclusion and isolation: The digitization of both banking transactions and the various services offered by the State has created a new way of social exclusion and isolation of older people. "It is a reality that older people have a large percentage of reduced technology knowledge, and serving them in various services becomes particularly difficult when the use of digital means is necessary."
Almost non-existent home care and care: Home care, the Parliament of the Elders emphasizes, "is the pre-eminent measure for an elderly person's stay in their familiar environment. It is necessary to improve the criteria for beneficiaries, expand the programs with reliable and trained staff and satisfactory salaries of caregivers, so that there is professional guidance and adequate coverage of remote areas."
Regarding home nursing care, the Parliament of the Elderly states: "Home care is a critical pillar for the care of people with chronic diseases, the elderly or people with limited mobility."
However, as stated, "the number of nurses now participating in home care is very limited and "not enough to meet the growing needs. Especially in rural and remote areas, the problem becomes more intense as many nurses find it difficult to provide their services due to the high cost of travel and limited time."
Reduced services through the GHS and ending up in the Psychiatric Hospital: In the reports of the Parliament of the Elderly, special reference is made to the very small number of visits that the elderly are entitled to from other professionals of the General Health System.
Physiotherapy and speech therapy, it is emphasized, are services that older people need for many different reasons. "With advancing age, the chances of developing musculoskeletal problems, injuries or chronic diseases that affect the functionality of the body increase. However, treatments by physiotherapists covered by the GHS are limited." In addition, "many older people experience severe difficulties in speaking and swallowing, primarily due to medical conditions such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, strokes, and other neurological or psychiatric conditions."
These patients "need adequate and regular speech therapy to restore these functions, but the number of sessions is often not sufficient to meet their actual needs."
Finally, the lack of specialized structures very often sends the elderly with dementia and other related diseases to Homes for the Elderly in which they are not provided with the services they need or in some cases to psychiatric institutions that are, as the Parliament of the Elders emphasizes, "the most unsuitable places for them".
Meagre incomes and inequalities in obtaining aid
The Parliament of the Elders is sounding the alarm about the living conditions of thousands of elderly people who live on meagre incomes and are unable to meet basic needs such as housing, food and medicines. Many wish to stay in their homes with home care, but are excluded from the plans, while others cannot afford the high cost of living in a home for the elderly.
The competent Committee calls for a substantial increase in pensions, a revision of the poverty line and a strengthening of state support, so that no pensioner is led to misery.
At the same time, it proposes the creation of homes for the elderly through municipalities and communities, with adequate staff and strict supervision, as well as the abolition of VAT on private homes, as is the case in state housing.
