Aging in Romania: Research and Public Policy

Abstract

Romania has entered a period of rapid and dramatic population aging. Older Romanians are expected to make up more than 30% of the total population by 2050. Yet, gerontological research is sparse and the few studies of older Romanians that exist are not well used by policy makers. Much of the research is descriptive and focused on needs assessments. Most databases created from studies of older adults are not available for secondary analysis, nor is Romania among the countries included in the Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe. The pension and health insurance systems and the system of social welfare services address the specific needs of older Romanians, but comparing the social protection systems in the European Union with those in Romania suggests the existence of a development lag. The relevant legislation exists but there are still issues regarding the implementation of specially developed social services for older persons. As a result, there are major inadequacies in the organization of the social service system: too few public services, insufficient budget funds, insufficient collaboration between public and private services, and frequently overlapping services.

(De)Gendering Older Patients: Exploring Views on Aging and Older Patients in Romanian General Practitioners

“…There older population in Romania is on the rise, with around 15% of the population being over 65 in 2010 and expected to increase to 30% by 2050 (Asandului, 2013;Bodogai & Cutler, 2013). Health inequalities for Romanian pensioners are a reality since their financial situation is below that of other EU countries and economic resources are insufficient for supporting a growing number of older individuals (Bodogai & Cutler, 2013).…”

“…Health inequalities for Romanian pensioners are a reality since their financial situation is below that of other EU countries and economic resources are insufficient for supporting a growing number of older individuals (Bodogai & Cutler, 2013). Thus, financial independence in old age as active aging policies (Lassen & Moreira, 2014) envision may be more difficult to reach.…”

“…older than 65) have negative representations of aging (Craciun, 2011), and consider they had few resources to reach a positive old age (Craciun, 2012). Pensions are known to be on average around the equivalent of 225$, representing 50% of the net average wage, and being far below the living expenses needs (Bodogai & Cutler, 2013). Since the proportion of older women (59%) is higher than that of older men (41%), there may be also a higher probability for older women to be at a disadvantage in terms of reaching active aging policy goals.…”

Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Model-Based Evaluation of Community Care Facilities’ Spatial Accessibility in Xi’an, China

“…The proportion of the global population aged 65 and over rose from 5% in 1960 to 9% in 2018 and it is expected to rise to 16% by 2050, when nearly 80% of the older population will be living in developing countries [ 9 ]. The rapid growth of the elderly population has become a prominent and global phenomenon, including in developed countries such as Canada [ 10 ] and Japan [ 11 ] and developing countries such as Thailand [ 2 ] and Romania [ 12 ]. The rate of population aging is a concern of most nations, manifesting as critical issues in public health, preventive medicine, and socio-economic sectors.…”

Multidimensional Approach on Sustainability of Ageing in Romanian Residential Care Centres for Elders

“…Such an instance would globally trigger, on the one hand, an increase in pathological conditions, the incidence of diseases related to ageing or a high risk for developing other chronic diseases space have to be considered, such as cultural norms, socioeconomic development, changes in family behaviour either towards keeping values of the traditional society [9] or adopting by elders of a permanent help-seeking behaviour, which may increase their dependency [26]. This stage of life, often characterized as "a social death" [27], is marked by irreversible biological, psychical, and social changes, but with different ways of manifestation from person to person, and expresses itself through specific needs [6,25].…”