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[translated] My biggest fear is that I will be powerless to support and provide for myself. That would place my family in a difficult financial and physical situation, given that my future salary and pension will not be enough to cover all expenses.

[translated -excerpt, emphasis in original text] Home-based assistance offered by the Romanian state to older people DOES NOT EXIST. This is unacceptable. […] for sick people and the elderly the situation is extremely BAD. There is no help. No state funded services to help them at home or in an institution, facilities for the elderly are so bad they are more like prisons or labour camps. I also strongly advise you to do a study and personal visits to psychiatric hospitals, and how mental health is treated in Romania.

[Translated] It is complicated to get help when the parent who needs it is living abroad (France) and it is impossible for him/her to live alone. Because no retirement home can be found for him/her, the only solution is to take him/her at home (in another country of the European Union)

[translated] In general, the state should take care of the financing of care services and introduce a system for quick access to emergency medical care.

[translated] Centers for socializing of the elderly should be provided, for playing chess, knitting, and so on; because after they retire they are at home all day and have no communication with other people.

I have Parkinson’s Disease and I dread what the future holds for me physically and mentally.

[translated] Long-term care should be almost exclusively the prerogative of state institutions that should have the necessary infrastructure and resources to respond to the needs of older people and their families.

[Translated] There are now already too few caregivers and nothing is done about it! How will that be in 10 years ?!

[Translated] In the next few years, Germany will need more good care facilities, if possible connected with other living facilities in which partners can also live. With high quality standards, but also with empathetic nursing and care staff and good living standards. With medical care, physiotherapy and a good activation program. Care should be affordable for all and not be passed on to family members who risk their health, private life and income for it. Nursing home care should not be stigmatized, as it relieves relatives of a great deal of work and ensures care free interaction with the persons to be cared for. Financial reasons should not be the reason why people do not go to a nursing home, because the psychological burden is too high.

[Translated] In Belgium, we are immensely lucky that our health care system is based on solidarity. It is important that this continues and is even strengthened to avoid inequalities.