In the next decade the number of people over 60 and 65 years old in Catalonia will almost double with the arrival of the children of the generation of baby boomThis situation will further complicate the current shortage of places in nursing homes, with waiting lists of more than two years in many centers, and there are even delays in the case of private centers. In a new report on the socioeconomic impact of care for dependent persons, prepared for another year by the Union of Entities with the support of the Catalan Association of Assistance Resources (ACRA), the employers' association of large nursing homes, figures out the challenge of aging: by 2035, 80,000 new places will need to be created, and another 26,000 professionals hired, to be able to provide reliable care to this elderly population.

One year after theapproval of the ELA law, the Spanish government creates the III+ degree of extreme dependency that must guarantee the rights of those suffering from this incurable neurodegenerative disease to receive specialized services 24 hours a day. The Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, announced this Tuesday that patients in a more advanced stage of the disease will receive a benefit "of up to 10,000 euros per month" to cover the costs of the professional caregivers they need to survive.

More than 9,000 Catalans died last year waiting that they be recognized as having a degree of dependency or a benefit. This figure means that every hour a person dies unattended, without having received the right recognized in the dependency law. This is what happened to Alfredo M., Isabel Fernández's husband, who died at the age of 62 in mid-March, before his Individual Care Plan (PIA) was approved, which determines the benefits or services to which one is entitled based on disability. As a result of his death, the family You are not entitled to receive retroactively What the government didn't provide her during her lifetime due to year-long waiting lists. Despite her grief and pain, the widow finds strength to denounce a situation she considers "unfair."

Eduard Ges' daughter was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was eight months old. From then on, a real bureaucratic labyrinth began, which all families go through to access a dependency benefit, and which can be summed up in two words: ratings and information. The access door to services recognized by the dependency law - which is not only designed for older people - is a real headache due to the long waiting lists that force people to pay in advance. The girl is now two years and four months old and requires numerous sessions of physiotherapy and psychologists in private centers while public aid is not coming. "Every day is a battle with the paperwork," complains Ges.

This Tuesday's Council of Ministers approved the reform of the Dependency Law and the General Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The regulatory changes, piloted by the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption, and the 2030 Agenda, under the leadership of Pablo Bustinduy, were approved in the second round, and are now headed to the Congress of Deputies. Among the notable measures is the elimination of the incompatibility between dependency benefits and services.