Conference: "The fight against unwanted loneliness among the elderly in Spain".

The phenomenon of unwanted loneliness in the elderly is felt by this group as one of the most important situations or problems, making it a highly relevant problem that requires public attention.

The Imserso, in the latest 2016 Report on the Elderly in Spain, shows that 22.37% occupy a single-person household, which are formed mainly when widowhood occurs and the person experiencing it remains in their own home, without company. Living alone or sharing a home with a partner is a reality that has been expanding for decades in Spain, as well as in other Western countries: residential independence between generations, to the detriment of living with children or other family members.

There are already numerous initiatives aimed at combating this problem, both in autonomous communities and in local entities, which will be presented at this conference. However, greater organisational and budgetary involvement of public administrations is necessary for the implementation of comprehensive monitoring, control and support programmes for elderly people who become lonely at an advanced age, in close collaboration with non-governmental organisations and the business fabric of social and health care. The Imserso, as a state reference entity in the field of social services, proposes this conference with the aim of establishing a State Network for collaboration in the fight against the unwanted loneliness of the elderly.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this conference is to:

• Create a networking group between the participating institutions and organisations.
• Establish common objectives for a comprehensive approach to loneliness.
• Promote the exchange of knowledge, experiences and good practices among professionals from different fields.
• To transfer to society the advances achieved in the fight against loneliness and the improvement of quality of life.
• To generate and share information on plans, programmes and activities related to loneliness among the elderly throughout Spain, with the aim of exchanging criteria for action, managing knowledge and establishing synergies between institutions and care facilities.
• To coordinate, where appropriate, those actions that are developed at state level in the field of loneliness.
• To constitute the technical nucleus for the drafting of a first proposal document for a Strategy against unwanted loneliness of the elderly in Spain, prior to the constitution of a national Forum on this subject.