“Elderly residences at the former boarding school”. But on the Vittoria Colonna only silence

by Silvano Clappis

Use the former Vittoria Colonna boarding school as a residence for the elderly. It had already been discussed in 2018 when the mayor Massimo Seri met the general director of INPS, owner of the property which in the meantime has been transferred to the I3 Silver Fund managed by Invimit Sgr. Then the property was talked about again during the pandemic, with the idea of ​​allocating it to those recovering from Covid. Since then – except for news stories involving the eviction of homeless people – silence has fallen. Now the appeal to move quickly in this direction comes from the sociologist Maurizio Tomassini in the face of the aging of the Fano population.

The Istat data from the Municipality of Fano speak clearly: there are more than 5 thousand elderly people over the age of eighty, almost 10% of the inhabitants. In detail: 4,228 between 80-89 years old, 972 between 90-99 years old, 22 centenarians. Not to mention the 6,000 in the 70 age group. What effects will the increase in life expectancy in elderly people produce? Well-founded questions, if we consider that already a few thousand elderly people from Fano live alone in their own homes, often oversized and with architectural barriers. “Homes that do not guarantee – says Maurizio Tomassini – a life suited to the needs of protection and surveillance through new applied technologies such as remote health telesurveillance, or forms of coexistence with collective services that facilitate mutual help, social concierge”.

It is a question of finding new formulas because, as Tomassini says, “an ever-increasing number of elderly people, sometimes alone, rightly want to choose where to live and perhaps share accommodation. They express a request for support and help, for services that guarantee a suitable and safe environment for social inclusion, protection and independent living, while remaining in one’s own accommodation”. Housing formulas such as assisted housing, present in northern Italy, in which to find mutualism and innovative services. “We must think of common spaces that can also be shared by nursery school children and the elderly. It has been defined as ‘intra-generational education’, it involves making children and the elderly stay together for a few hours of the day, amidst fairy tales and cooking lessons. An experiment that has produced positive results for both generations”.

“Assisted housing – continues the sociologist – is an alternative to isolation at home to allow better care”. For this reason Tomassini sees the use of Vittoria Colonna well. “An integrated system of services and homes would be created for people who, as they age, will have a clear need to live in an environment close to the historic center and with all the advantages of intra-generational mutuality. At Vittoria Colonna, which coincidentally borders the Corridoni schools, – says Tomassini who is the national director of the Acli – it would also be necessary to converge local district health services which require an enhancement of the resources allocated by the Pnrr. The necessary contacts should be resumed and mixed public investments should be put in place private individuals: the welfare system in the near future can only be sustained by choosing new paths”. Silvano Clappis