Help for elderly expats
 

Is anybody else in agreement that elderly expats here in Spain get a raw deal? lots of the elderly expats that came over in the boom years are now at an age where they might need a bit of help and because they´re famlies are back in the UK they struggle to get help.

Spain offers no real care system for these Brits that have been here years and contributed to the system. They are caught between a rock and a hard place as this is their home but because their family are UK based they struggle getting help and are thus forced to return.

Im hoping the over zealous admins arent going to delete this post too!!

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

The admin team on here are simply stopping the forum from becoming over run with advertisements thankfully!

Jo

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

Here's a question. If the Spanish government gave free nursery home places to elderly British expats where all the other resididents and nurses only spoke Spanish, do you think that would help? I think many would find that terrifying.

As I mentioned before, the state provides no help for the Spanish elderly, so how can they provide help to the British elderly? The responsibility lands firmly on the family. Maybe the British expat families should take more responsibility and offer their relatives a place to stay at their homes in Britain or elsewhere.

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

I totally agree but just thought it would be good for people to know that such a service is available and one that helps our elderly expat community

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

so put an ad in classifieds...........

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

Surely it is about choices, we each make a choice and have to live with the outcome. You move out when your family are young so they grow up with the benefit of being bilingual, as an adult you may struggle to get to grips with the language and work but you can see beyond that. When you come out at an older age and choose to retire at say 50/60 you have to be aware that your not going to remain at that age and that is where I think that people make the mistakes, they buy a house in the campo at 50 that is in a quite area, little bus service no neighbours but do not always consider that in 20yrs time the house will still be in the same place but they will have aged and as a 70/80yr old their needs have changed hugely. They are no longer able to drive, their health may have deteriorated and the quite area has now become almost a tomb that is what drives people back home not the lack of care or facilities, it is just they can not get to them. If people thought about what they wanted out of a house not just in the here and now but say 10yrs/20yrs they would choose slightly differently.

Although urbanisations are not ideal for the adventurous types it is more suitable for the less able bodied you will have people who notice when your not about, people that you can visit and make good friends with over the years, a support network for the sick and house bound that is what keeps people here others caring enough to put themselves out. If you spoke to many of the returnees most would stay if they had the help and support they required and choosing where you live in the first instance makes that a whole lot easier.

Property takes a long time to move over here so you have to be prepared to wait and time is not always what people have on their side, the campo is lovely but it is unforgiving and untill someone comes to view your house with the same ideals as you had, you may well be stuck with it, you can not blame a society for the choices you made when you left your family, bought your dream house and then have to live with it when you get old.

We should worry less on what we have and have not but work with what is around us, have faith in others not every one is out to steal your stuff and have a little compassion for those that are struggling with health and offer a helpinig hand that is what makes a community, a society and move for life not the exchange rate, house prices or health.

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

You just don't get it be subtle have a signiture box and advertise like others do fill out your profile and advertise like others do. Yes we do need that kind of info and yes it should be out there just play the game.;)

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

I don't think they've been around long enough yet

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

If a Spanish couple moved to the countryside in the UK and encountered the problems I mentioned they would be entitled to home help etc, what is the point of being in a European community if there is no consistency between countries?

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

Thanks for that, its all new to me!!

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

I think you arent getting the point.

EU rules state that a British resident in Spain should be entitled to the same help that a Spanish person gets in Spain. i.e. in the case of elderly people, none at all.

You can't move to Spain and then demand that Spain is more like Britain! Spain is free to govern its country how it seems fit in a democratic manner.

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

It's always been the case that UK has a system in place to look after the elderly, and Spain hasn't, nothing has changed. It's always been that way, even people moving out at a young age with no thoughts of retirement, should know what awaits them and plan accordingly. Obviously the Spanish have family around them to look after them, but Brits normally don't, but that shouldn't come as a big surprise, it was always going to happen.:(

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

The reason people move or have moved here is because it is very different to the UK, The UK has not always had home help, free health care, benefits for those less fortunate and each country moves at its own pace, Spain is getting there and in 20/30yrs time they will have it and by then the UK will be like the USA is now and people will still be saying that it is still behind the times because what they have had seems to denote what they should expect.

In mid 1948 they introduced free health care can you imagine how some must have felt needing to pay for a doctor because they got sick a week before it was free. Maybe the UK should be more like the rest of Europe and not offer the free benefits then maybe it would not be seen as the place to be and thus make Brits move to countries that are not like the UK.

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

Careful, USA is most definitely not ahead of the UK or the rest of Europe when it comes to healthcare and benefits. But I do get the sentiment of your post.

Spain isnt the UK and the UK isnt Spain. Things work differently in both countries.

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

I was not pointing out the healthcare side of it but more to do with the lifestyle and how we live our lives.

In the USA a person will stand and watch a man die in the street because he is frightened of being sued should the man die anyway and if he has tried to help it will open him up to litigation. The Uk is becoming more and more about blaming someone else and making a quick buck. It will only be a matter of time until the same happens in the UK where every accident has a lawyer chasing the ambulance ready to blame someone else. They call this progress.

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

The Spanish do get help with regards to meals!

It costs them 0.85€ per day, and they get meals delivered to them they also get free holidays with food included. I´m not demanding that Spain be like Britain but to be fair to the people that have paid into its system.

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

That's actually illegal in Spain.

It is against the law not to intervene if you see a somebody suffering or injured. Just like it is illegal not to stop and help a motorist after an accident even if you were not involved.

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

Give people the benefits that have paid into the corresponding countries system for a number of years, not people that just turn up off speck and expect to get benefits when they have made no contributions, this is where Britain has let itself down, its a soft touch, my point is that there are plenty of Brits who have been here for years and paid into the system that should be treated better.

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

What's the problem then? Benefits in Spain are usually available to "residents" whether you are Spanish or British shouldnt matter.

You keep saying British expats have paid into the system, but have they? Very very few pay their monthly social security contributions each month in Spain or did so before they retired.

Regarding the cheap meals, you will have to look into it to see how you can claim them and whether you would have had to have a paid a minimum number of years into the social security system or not. Like anything in Spain, knowledge is king!

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

Here you go, everything you need to know is here:

You are right, there seems to be lots of help given to elderly people in Spain. No reason why British elderly people can't claim it too! As long as they have someone who can apply and understand the system in Spanish

http://www.seg-social.es/Internet_1/...ales/index.htm

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

I don't think it's true to say that elderly Spanish people don't get any help from the state (up until recently they didn't, but that has changed because of the Ley de Dependencia). I live in a large town and I see quite a few of my elderly neighbours getting visits from uniformed carers from the local Social Services, doing housework for them, etc.

I don't know what the criteria for eligibility for these services are, but I'm sure EU citizens resident in Spain would be entitled to them if they met the same criteria as a Spaniard - of course you would need a good knowledge of Spanish I imagine, as there are probably reams of forms to be filled in.

I do agree with the points made by Jay01 about the advisability of thinking not only of your immediate preferences when selecting a place to live in Spain, but also of your long term needs. I can't drive (although my partner can) but there is no way I would have bought a house in the country as I would have been stuck there if anything happened to him. I was only 50 when we moved here but was determined to be within easy reach of health centres, a hospital, within walking distance of shops, etc.

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

Well at least the information is in English so that will help

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

Because of the lack of care services in a rapidly changing Spain there have been an increase in cases of elderly abuse in the spanish news. UK isn't great either, I have a relative whose Husband has gone into early dementia (64), he has to be in a special unit and because they have a comfortable sum of money she has to pay.

I have seen a lot on the CDS go from being fit "young" pensioners to not being able to cope anymore. Some have just turned into being a bit weird but one couple I know are more or less housebound. They rely on other ex-pats for shopping etc. another couple was taken back to the UK by their family, she had a stroke (no aftercare here) and was in a 3rd floor apartment with a tiny lift that was always broken...they struggled on for about 2 years trying to sell and never did. They did finally get meals on wheels type slop.


Something to think about for the early retirees in their 50's:(

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

I know of a few such organisations. Maybe you, like them should advertise at local expat information offices and ayuntamientos

Jo xxx

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

:thumbsup:

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

The British expat communities in Spain have a vast network of volunteers. like HELP, to help each other, but you still hear of horror stories on a daily basis. We heard of an English couple today, in their early fifties, who run a small business in the campo, but with a few expats around them.

The wife developed a serious illness and the husband provides constant care for her, meaning that he could no longer run their business, or pay their mortgage.

She would need an air ambulance to return home, but they can't afford the £14,000 it would cost, nor is there much for them to return home to. There is some Spanish home care available, but it's not enough.

You can't plan for every mishap in the future, but living in an expat community helps, and unless you arrive in Spain in your twenties, by the time you get to 50 and need help you will not have sufficient Spanish experience (not just the language) to make use of the assistance that is provided.

If you're isolated and don't know the language, there is nothing anyone can do for you.

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

Over zealous mods, they are pussycats now, you would of got your name changed too if one miserable old git was still on here. :rofl:

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

ooh & who might that be?!!:lol:


have to admit I had wondered about the username myself - we shall have to see what tomorrow brings, shan't we!

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

And you think I'm not taking care of that?

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

see - that's what I thought:D

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

But the posters website does not work. Take pity on him.:rofl:

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

:eek:

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

I was joking:rofl:

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

It's hard to make plans, when the government keeps changing the goalposts. Even in the UK the retirement age is being raised, and there's speculation of a "death tax" being introduced to pay for care in old age

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...-for-care.html

It seems noone really have an answer to this - whatever you plan for your retirement can be undone by events outside your control.

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

actually I did google the username & came up with a likely website


it looks very good - but none of the links worked!


so you could well be right:lol:



I'm not putting a link though.....................

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

;);)

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

Age Concern Espana is a good place to start if people need help. The work that they do is currently being expanded with help from the UK Consulate. They also have an infoline number. The service varies depending on where you live. Age Concern Website All this info is already in the very useful free beer section.
The local services are run by volunteers.

Yvonne

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

The subject of this thread illustrates clearly why it is a bad idea to sever all ties with the UK.

How many elderly people in Spain cannot manage, have no help, have nothing in the UK to return to and can't afford to get anything?

At least in the UK their minimum income would be around £130 pw for a single person and £200 pw for a couple and they would be able to get the help they need.

Keep something in the UK, if only a studio flat or the deposit and first couple of month's rent on a rented property. It is SO important that you can return if necessary.

IMHO of course.

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

Very good advice, there is nothing sadder, in my opinion, than to see an old person struggling to survive, and living out their final years in pergatory.:thumbdown::thumbdown:

Re: Help for elderly expats
 

So what would you suggest? Never live the dream because it might all go bad?

I agree that it does pay to season the dream with a bit of sense, like don't buy a flat with lots of stairs, don't stick yourself out in the back of beyond, but there are practical things you can do.

When you are too old to drive, then usually you won't need a car so much, so taxis become a lot more useful. After all, when you think of what it costs to tax, run and fuel a car, a couple of taxi rides a week aren't going to be that expensive.