Shielding seniors from isolation

Alexandra Stasinopoulou, member of the Board of Directors of the Michael N. Stassinopoulos-Viohalco Public Benefit Foundation, and Antonis Politis, professor of psychiatry at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, stand outside the Mentor Healthy Ageing Center in Tegea, in southern Greece.

Mentor was inaugurated on Friday and is the first such center in Greece. With the foundation as the main donor, Mentor will promote the healthy aging of seniors, conduct research, prevention, management, and education in the care of Alzheimer’s disease.

“Greece is a rapidly aging country. It is necessary to create conditions for these people to be well cared for,” says Politis, noting that the percentage of people aged over 80 that Greece will have in 2030 will be reached by the US in 2050. “Today, people over the age of 65 in Greece represent more than 21.3% of the population. According to forecasts, in 2030 this percentage will reach 30%, while in 2050 Greeks over 65 will make up about 40% of the total population,” he added.

Given that the percentage of the population aged over 80 is currently 6.8% and is projected to reach 14% in 2050, he stresses that “there is a need to create conditions for these people to be well cared for.”