{"id":35954,"date":"2025-07-10T13:46:44","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T11:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.frmr.ro\/?p=35954"},"modified":"2026-03-11T12:00:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:00:52","slug":"telefonul-varstnicului-nevoile-seniorilor-din-romania-in-prima-jumatate-a-anului-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fundatiaregala.ro\/en\/telefonul-varstnicului-nevoile-seniorilor-din-romania-in-prima-jumatate-a-anului-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"The Elderly Helpline \u2013 The needs of elderly people in Romania in the first half of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"translation-block\">**Bucharest, 10 July 2025 | <strong>In the first six months of this year, the free social helpline <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.telefonulvarstnicului.ro\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong><em>The Elderly Helpline<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong> \u2013 0800 460 001, operated since 2015 by The Margareta Of Romania Royal Foundation, recorded 5,464 calls from across the country. Of these, 1,182 callers \u2013 elderly people and relatives \u2013 called for the first time, and <\/strong><strong>54% of elderly people stated that they live alone<\/strong>.**<\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\">The service remains a benchmark for people aged over 65 in Romania, providing <strong>information, social counselling, support, and guidance for various needs \u2013 <\/strong>ranging from recommendations for social services to emotional support or community activities.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>What are the needs of elderly people who call?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Unul dintre aspectele notabile ale acestei perioade este <strong>modificarea<\/strong> <strong>topului nevoilor exprimate de seniori<\/strong>. Dac\u0103 \u00een anii anteriori cele mai multe apeluri vizau cererea de <strong>informa\u021bii utile \u0219i de \u00eencredere sau<\/strong> sprijinul practic la domiciliu, \u00een prima jum\u0103tate a anului 2025 a urcat semnificativ \u00een top dorin\u021ba de <strong>implicare \u00een via\u021ba comunit\u0103\u021bii \u0219i de participare la activit\u0103\u021bi specifice v\u00e2rstei a treia<\/strong>. Categoria <strong><em>Via\u021b\u0103 activ\u0103 \u0219i participare social\u0103<\/em><\/strong> a ajuns pe locul <strong>al doilea<\/strong>, cu <strong>330 de apeluri<\/strong>, devans\u00e2nd solicit\u0103rile pentru \u00eengrijire \u0219i suport \u00een func\u021bie de gradul de dependen\u021b\u0103, dar \u0219i sprijin material sau financiar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\">This change is also due to the fact that last year The Margareta Of Romania Royal Foundation launched, and continues in 2025, together with the Vodafone Foundation, the project <strong>Connecting Generations in the Digital World<\/strong>, dedicated to digital education for elderly people. In this context, <strong>265 elderly people<\/strong> contacted <strong>The Elderly Helpline<\/strong> for the first time in the first half of the year in order to enroll in the digital skills workshops. Therefore, all callers who wish to lead an active life received information about the opportunities for <strong>participation in <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/fundatiaregala.ro\/en\/conectam-generatii\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>digital education workshops for seniors<\/strong><\/a><strong> organized in Bucharest and in 15 other localities across the country,<\/strong> about opportunities for <strong>volunteering in the community<\/strong>, such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/intergenerational.ro\/seniori-pentru-copii\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>Generations Centres<\/strong><\/a>, or <strong>about<\/strong> <strong>activities organized in community senior clubs<\/strong> or at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telefonulvarstnicului.ro\/teleclubul-seniorilor-2\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>Senior TeleClub<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><em>\u201cI am grateful, you truly saved me. I didn\u2019t think such clubs existed in our city as well. You know how it is, instead of staying at home within four walls, it\u2019s better to go somewhere to exchange a few words with someone, to learn new things, or to go on trips together with other people my age.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 <strong>says Mrs. P, aged 68, with joy in her voice,<\/strong> who called out of the desire to leave the house and meet people of her own age.<\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\">Furthermore, <strong>The Elderly Helpline<\/strong> continues to remain a space of support and trust for the elderly people who call. The need to obtain <strong>practical, useful, and reliable information remains in first place.<\/strong> Relevant contacts and updated information for specific situations were provided to <strong>367 elderly people<\/strong> by the social workers of the helpline. They operate with a <strong>database<\/strong> containing approximately <strong>1,500 public institutions<\/strong>, social services, or private providers offering services specifically for seniors, continuously updated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><strong>The need for care and support in relation to the level of dependency has reached third place among the main reasons for calling. 258 of the unique callers received <\/strong>information about the specialized services available, referrals to residential homes for elderly people and institutionalization procedures and resources available in the community, as well as recommendations regarding institutions that provide home medical care.<\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><strong>Fourth place<\/strong> among the main reasons for calls from elderly people was represented by requests for <strong>financial or material support, from<\/strong> <strong>115 of the elderly people<\/strong> who called The Elderly Helpline for the first time. The team recommended appropriate community resources tailored to their individual needs, operated by the General Directorates of Social Assistance (DGAS) or NGOs, which can provide food products, hygiene and sanitary items, or social vouchers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><strong>The need for emotional support ranks fifth among the main reasons for calling. For 53 elderly people who struggle with loneliness and personal challenges, <\/strong><strong>The Elderly Helpline responded through its own weekly follow-up call services or by referring them to partner organizations<\/strong> providing specialized services in their community. Up to this point in the year, <strong>227 elderly people<\/strong> have benefited from emotional support through weekly supportive calls.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Who are the elderly people who call The Elderly Helpline?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><strong>54% live alone<\/strong>, a percentage that reflects a national trend: 1 in 3 elderly people in Romania lives in isolation. Other categories include elderly people who live with their partners (<strong>29%<\/strong>), with other persons <strong>(9%)<\/strong>, or in extended households, together with children or grandchildren (<strong>8%<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><strong>Women<\/strong> represent <strong>58%<\/strong> of the callers, and the distribution by age categories shows that most elderly people who call are in the <strong>70\u201380 age range (38%)<\/strong>, followed by those aged <strong>65\u201370 (19%)<\/strong> and those aged <strong>80\u201390 (17%)<\/strong>. Additionally, <strong>11%<\/strong> of the calls came from <strong>relatives<\/strong>, who requested indirect support for elderly people.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>A service with national impact, delivered with empathy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\">The Elderly Helpline has <strong>national coverage<\/strong>: most callers come from <strong>Bucharest and Ilfov (377 calls)<\/strong>, followed by elderly people from <strong>Transylvania (223 calls)<\/strong> and <strong>Moldova (216 calls)<\/strong>. The challenges faced by elderly people are felt more acutely in <strong>rural areas and small towns<\/strong>, from where <strong>454 calls<\/strong> were received, compared to 348 from Bucharest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><strong>The Elderly Helpline team<\/strong> consists of <strong>3 social worker operators and one (1) coordinator<\/strong>, as well as <strong>15 volunteers<\/strong> involved in the weekly follow-up call service. Elderly people from across the country who need information, social counselling, and relief from loneliness can call <strong>free of charge<\/strong> at the <strong>number<\/strong> <strong>0800 460 001,<\/strong> <strong>Monday to Friday between 08:00 \u2013 20:00 and Saturday between 08:00 \u2013 16:00.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Each call is an opportunity for an elderly person to reconnect with the world. Each elderly person is treated with empathy and professionalism, being offered not only information, but also comfort.<\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><strong>The Elderly Helpline<\/strong> is a social project supported by <strong><em>Imedica SA, the Romanian National Lottery Company, Johnson Wax, Yardi Romania, and Kaufland Romania.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>With media support: <\/em><\/strong><em>Pro TV, TVR, Antena 1, Antena 3 CNN, Antena Stars, Prima TV, Prima News, Pro Cinema, Pro Arena, Acas\u0103, Acas\u0103 Gold, Zu TV, Happy Channel, Trinitas TV, Speran\u021ba TV, Antena 3 Deva, Campus TV Buz\u0103u, City TV Tg Mure\u0219, Exploris TV, Moldova TV, Zenith Media (Digi 24, Digi Sport, Euronews, Favorit TV, Hit Music, Music Channel, N24 Plus, National TV, Romania TV, U TV etc &amp; sta\u021bii radio locale <\/em><em>Viva, Radio Transilvania, Fresh, Eveniment \/ Sweet FM<\/em><em>), Radio Rom\u00e2nia Actualit\u0103\u021bi, Radio Rom\u00e2nia Antena Satelor, Radio Rom\u00e2nia Regional, Radio Trinitas, Radio Arad, Radio Boom Rom\u00e2nia, Radio Campus Buz\u0103u, Radio Rena\u0219terea, AGERPRES, Forbes Romania, Forbes Life, Nine O<\/em><em>\u2019Clock, Ziarul News,<\/em> <em>Ziarul Lumina, Europa Liber\u0103 Rom\u00e2nia, Rom\u00e2nia Pozitiv\u0103, Gala Societ\u0103\u021bii Civile, Rom\u00e2nia Responsabil\u0103, Stiri.ong, Nonguvernamental.org, Jurnal de Sustenabilitate, Farmacia Tei, Formula AS, Asul Verde, Crai Nou, Suceava News, Glasul V\u0103ilor, Via\u021ba Buz\u0103ului, Obiectiv Ialomi\u021ba, Ghidul Banatului, Vocea D\u00e2mbovi\u021bei, Ziarul Clujean, R\u0103sunetul etc <\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>With support from:<\/em><\/strong><em> The Bucharest-Ilfov Association of Family Physicians, the National Society of Family Medicine<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bucure\u0219ti, 10 iulie 2025 | \u00cen primele \u0219ase luni ale acestui an, linia social\u0103 gratuit\u0103 Telefonul V\u00e2rstnicului \u2013 0800 460 001, operat\u0103 din anul 2015 de Funda\u021bia Regal\u0103 Margareta a Rom\u00e2niei, a \u00eenregistrat 5.464 de apeluri din \u00eentreaga \u021bar\u0103. Dintre acestea, 1.182 de apelan\u021bi &#8211; seniori \u0219i apar\u021bin\u0103tori &#8211; au sunat pentru prima dat\u0103, iar [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,33,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-23","category-comunicate","category-telefonul-varstnicului"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fundatiaregala.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fundatiaregala.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fundatiaregala.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fundatiaregala.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fundatiaregala.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35954"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fundatiaregala.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38017,"href":"https:\/\/fundatiaregala.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35954\/revisions\/38017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fundatiaregala.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fundatiaregala.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fundatiaregala.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fundatiaregala.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}