More and more elderly people are being abandoned by their families to welfare homes – and the head of the union of state-funded homes (Lares de Misericórdia) says it’s not all down to the crisis.
The problem was first discussed over a year ago, when the secretary of state for social solidarity admitted: “We realise that we have to act on a number of factors that lead families to this type of abandon” – but more than 12 months on, Manuel Lemos, president of the União das Misericórdias, says the problem is running out of control, yet the government seems no nearer any kind of legislation or moves to check it. He believes families should be made responsible for abandoning “their elderly relatives in hospitals and homes”.
Lemos added that he doubts it is only the crisis behind the new social “phenomenon” but it is unclear what else he thinks it could be.
