How can we better help caregivers? The government will create “6,000 additional respite places” for the elderly and disabled people in order to allow their loved ones to breathe, announced the Minister of Solidarity, Aurore Bergé, in an interview granted on the evening of Thursday, October 5. in West France.
This plan has “a major objective: to make it possible to take care of those who take care of others”, she explains, revealing the main lines of the new “Act for caregivers 2023-2027 strategy”, which must be officially presented Friday on the occasion of Carers’ Day.
“We are going to create 6,000 additional respite places, in day care, for a weekend or a week. This will allow us to reach 40,000 respite places by 2027 for the elderly and disabled people whatever their age,” she says. “We are going to keep the promise made to caregivers during the presidential campaign: to have, [at a minimum], fifteen days of respite per year to breathe,” adds the minister.
Eight to eleven million people support a loved one with a disability, loss of autonomy or suffering from a chronic or disabling illness, according to the Ministry of Solidarity.
A one-stop shop to facilitate administrative procedures
“One figure really caught my attention: currently, half of caregivers die before the person they help… (…) This figure demonstrates the potential deterioration in the health of caregivers. It was therefore more than urgent to act,” according to Aurore Bergé.
The minister also announced the establishment in all departments of a one-stop shop to facilitate administrative procedures for caregivers. Finally, on Friday it will present a charter of commitment signed by large French companies (SNCF, La Poste, L’Oreal, BNP, etc.) committing to better support their caring employees.
“Companies must have a real culture of kindness towards caregivers, by supporting them financially, by strengthening the caregiver leave to which they are entitled,” she concludes, noting that these people are, in the large majority , women.