When the loss of autonomy of the elderly brings together financiers and players in the sector at Pont du Gard

Gilles Eyraud et Christophe Serres sont très impliqués sur la perte d'autonomie. Midi Libre – Xavier Rousseau

The 7th Meetings of the Conference of Funders for the Prevention of Loss of Autonomy took place Thursday January 18, at Pont du Gard, at the initiative of the departmental council. On the program workshops and conferences.

"Across the entire Region, we are part of the three departmental councils which consume all of the State allocation concerning the loss of autonomy", recalled Thursday, January 18, Christophe Serre, first vice-president of the Department responsible for the autonomy of elderly and disabled people, and president of the Conference of financiers of the prevention of loss of autonomy ( CFPPA) which organized its 7th Meetings at Pont du Gard. This grant (2 M€ for Gard) is allocated in relation to the number of people aged over 60 in a department.

In our department, those over 60 represent 240,000 inhabitants (or 31% of the total population). "By 2027, there will be 265,000 (35%), and by 2030, the population over 75 will increase by 4% in the department", adds Gilles Eyraud, director of personal autonomy at the Department and the MDPH. Not to mention that over the years the gap grows between the youngest and the oldest in terms of demographic curves.

One hundred and twenty-five project leaders supported in 2023

This shows that this meeting, which had the theme of mental illness in 2024, has become essential, especially as it brings together funders and stakeholders (associations, communities, nursing homes. ..) of the sector. This is also the time when the CFPPA launches its calls for initiatives for the year that begins. In 2023 alone, 125 project leaders were selected throughout the Gard region, which represented the financing of 257 local actors.

"Loss of autonomy requires a lot of resources (the Department devotes a budget of 222 M€ only for the elderly and disabled, Editor's note)", confirms Christophe Serre. However, the mobilization of actors and resources is not homogeneous: "The Nîmes sector is very active, while we have a lot of difficulties in the Gard Rhone and the Cévennes, where we find more isolated elderly people."

A public conference on inclusive housing

Another subject discussed, and not the least, during these 7th Meetings of the Conference of Funders for the Prevention of Loss of Autonomy, during the course ;a public conference, "a first", for Christophe Serres and his teams, that of inclusive housing. A skill that has been departmental since 2021.

Inclusive housing brings together diffuse housing integrated into a common project, construction projects and an evolution of already existing shared houses. "We are working more and more on the residential shift", insists Christophe Serre. Inclusive housing projects are carried out by a social landlord or a community in consultation with the residents since these people decide to live together. The Department then puts 10,000 € available in the form of staff and facilitators of common living spaces.

In 2022, fifteen of its projects were completed, four in 2023. For 2024, around ten have been launched. By 2027, the Department hopes to reach the symbolic bar of 1,000 housing units.