On 28 September, the active ageing plan was presented at Loulé Town Hall, in the presence of the British Ambassador to Portugal, Chris Sainty.

According to the speaker, the time is now. "We're in a window of opportunity. We have various European funds that can be applied, but the measures must be integrated and articulated in order to achieve results. Right now, this competence centre has taken on the action plan for the development of active ageing," said Nuno Marques, coordinator of the Competence Centre for Active Ageing.

Everything we do will not only affect the elderly of today but also the elderly of the future. "With these measures, we can improve things in 20 or 30 years' time," he said.

Public Transport

"Accessibility and transport are key," he said, adding that in the interior of the country, the lack of access to public transport limits access to healthcare. The coordinator said that even within the municipality, people who live in the centre of Loulé find it easier to access healthcare than people who live in small villages, even within the municipality. Despite the fact that "Loulé is one of the municipalities that invests the most in transport". In this sense, Nuno highlighted that we must "focus on home care".

Another important measure should be the diversification of nursing home options so that each user can choose the one that best suits their life, as already exists in other countries. In addition, it is important to allocate a fund for the construction of works to adapt the homes of people with reduced mobility, such as replacing the bathtub with a shower.

It's also important to address violence against the elderly. According to Nuno: "There is more violence against the elderly than we think because violence is not just physical, it can be psychological and also financial scams."

Healthy ageing

After Nuno, it was time for the British ambassador to speak to the public. The ambassador took the chance to praise the collaboration between the two countries.

"Population ageing is a global reality that affects Portugal, the UK and all Western countries. In 2018 it was considered one of the world's four great challenges”, Chris Sainty said.

For this reason, "healthy ageing will continue to be a priority for our embassy. We are planning an event on 7 November for a small group of stakeholders to gather some additional input on time. They will be formally revealed at the 5th "cities for all ages" active ageing forum.

The county with most British expats

"Loulé is one of the Portuguese municipalities with most foreign residents. From the embassy, we do what we can to support our community, but it has been a challenge to reach the many thousands of people whose lives have been affected by Brexit and we realised that one important way to support our community is at a local level, through the municipalities."

Therefore, the ambassador said that he hopes they “can count on the help of the active ageing centre and Loulé town hall to further support the active ageing of our populations", he concluded.

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Paula Martins is a fully qualified journalist, who finds writing a means of self-expression. She studied Journalism and Communication at University of Coimbra and recently Law in the Algarve. Press card: 8252

Paula Martins