Getting old and dependent in France

[Franglais24]

 

Sorry for raising this potentially depressing subject!

 

I suspect most of us who've recently resided in England are fairly familiar with the process there should one (or a relative) become aged and dependent on others for day-to-day care. That is, unless one is especially wealthy or has remarkable family/friends, one goes into an old folks' home and pays the fees, in full or in part until the money runs out, and then the state takes control and responsibility. Accounts of poor care and even abuse are often in the media.

Could anyone enlighten me as to the process/situation in France, particularly in relation to ex-pats from the UK?

Any experiences to share with others, particularly where the person speaks very limited French?

Any insight much appreciated,

F24.

[Val_2]

Firstly the situation is not a lot different in France in that if an aged person goes into a retirement home or hospital environment, it is usually down to the family to pay at least 50% of the annual costs which is why so many families keep their relatives at home as they just cannot afford the very high fees. Naturally the elderley person's financial status is taken into account and in many cases they will still have pensions,savings and assetts that the authorities will take the costs from instead,but when the person in question has not been a big earner and is perhaps a lowly farmer's widow etc it becomes a different matter. When you take a person of 85+, it is possible their offspring are just starting their retirement too and so finding all this extra cost if there is no house to sell or savings to rely on from the parent,will seriously put their income down.

I sit on the local CCAS committee which amongst many things decides who can have social help like meals on wheels,home help and transport to hospital etc and even these are not completely free with the recipient paying a certain amount from their pension. I've not heard of any cases of mistreatment around here and there are quite a lot of elderley homes as this is a popular retirement areas, but the large towns and cities could be another case and I suspect it does go on all over the world. There are some beautiful retirement homes here in France for the elderley and I would say that from what I have seen, they certainly excel over the dingy,smelly places that my relatives were kept in back in the UK when their carers went on holiday. At the end of the day, there seems to be none of this "can't wait to push your parents into a home" syndrome we hear about in the UK, it just dosn't seem to be part of the continental character makeup.

[0Helen]

                                

On the plus side, my elderly [83] French neighbour lives an independant life, has lots of friends and visitors.  Around here there is the bread van which arrives every day, grocery van twice a week, the nurse twice a week, the post person calls every day, neighbours call regularly - I know that when we are old we will not have all this unless we make a big effort.  Even the Mayor called to wish her a happy Spring - then he popped in to see us for the same reason when she told him we were here.  I expect it all depends where you live.  In the UK I expect we could be dead for a fortnight before someone noticed!!!

[Franglais24]

Thanks for your insight.

F24