Urban or rural, with or without a car, owners or not, isolated or surrounded by their families, seniors face the loss of their autonomy unequally according to their level but above all their place of life. The Caisse des dépôts et consignations, which finances real estate projects to house the elderly, paints a picture of the “territorial disparities in terms of aging and access to care”in a study presented Thursday, May 12.
France has 16 million inhabitants over the age of 60 (the study takes 2016 as the reference year). Seniors who say they have difficulty performing everyday activities represent 6.9% of 60-74 year olds and 26.8% of over 75 year olds. But the “contrasts” geographic are “important”note the authors of the study, Nathalie Chataigner and Clémence Darrigade.
Those who live in the Hauts-de-France, Grand-Est and Haute-Corse regions are more frequently losing their autonomy than in Brittany, Ile-de-France or the Pays de la Loire. Seniors in northern and eastern France also have, on average, lower incomes than those in southern and western France. They are less often owners and keepers of a car. They accumulate weaknesses. But the support of their family is more important than in other territories. In the Massif Central, the level of dependency is very high for those over 75, who also have low incomes and live more isolated.
The “crucial” presence of nurses and physiotherapists
Elderly people in affluent urban areas are not spared from loneliness. In Paris and in the inner suburbs, the level of dependency is high among the over 60s, who live alone for 31% of them. A good quarter are tenants of social housing. More than a quarter live in a building without an elevator. 28% are immigrants.
Like the majority of the population, seniors tend to live in urban areas and coastal areas. But the over 60s are proportionally more numerous than the other age groups in rural or sparsely populated areas. However, access to health professionals is more complicated as one moves away from the cities. Those over 60 who live in the countryside are the most dependent on the lack of general practitioners. They are on the front line against “medical deserts”, defined as territories where the inhabitants have access to only 2.5 consultations per year, whereas the national average is more than 4 annual visits per inhabitant.
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