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Elderly people in loneliness/Alarm in Korça

2026-04-18 15:10:00, Sociale CNA

The increase in cases of elderly people living alone and being found lifeless in their homes is becoming a worrying phenomenon in the city of Korça.

This reality has raised alarm among experts and institutions, highlighting the consequences of emigration and social abandonment.

According to sociologist Maria Dojçe, the population contraction in the Korça region, also reflected in the 2023 statistics, is being accompanied by an increase in the number of elderly people living alone.

Over 40% of them do not have children nearby to care for, which exposes them to isolation and daily difficulties.

She emphasizes that this age group, which faces declining physical and health abilities, finds it difficult to cope with living without assistance, jeopardizing social and economic well-being.

Elderly people in loneliness/Alarm in Korça

"The INSTAT statistics for 2023 have also highlighted a shrinking population in the Korça region. This will also be reflected in the increase in lonely senior citizens, where over 40% of them do not have any children in the city to take care of this age group. It is very difficult for this age group, which is exiting life skills, with a decline in personal skills, to continue the cycle of life in a healthy way and in full social and economic well-being."

Sociology appeals for more responsibility on the part of family members, demanding that children not abandon their parents, but provide continuous care for them.

"Support is also needed from children, who should not categorically abandon their parents. Children should provide someone to take care of them, or even return to live with their parents."

On the other hand, although the municipality of Korça has undertaken initiatives such as day centers for the elderly, these measures are considered insufficient. According to her, a wider extension of social services is needed, through employees who should follow the elderly in their homes several times a day.

"On the other hand, the institutions, here I refer more to the municipality, which has a very good social policy in itself with the day centers that it has activated in the city of Korça, but it is not enough. In the case of the elderly, of elderly parents who live alone, just one day center is not enough, mainly for women, since men find it easier to leave the house, to spend a few hours in the day centers and to receive services. Women usually stay inside the house, do not go out or are disabled even in terms of health. In this case, these day centers should recruit social service workers and a daily schedule should be made for them to go to families who are elderly and live alone at home, to go 2 or 3 times a day to see them, to take care of them and to help them with life services."

Elderly people in loneliness/Alarm in Korça

Another concern remains the limited capacity of senior residences, which are currently overcrowded and have waiting lists. Meanwhile, the costs of these services remain unaffordable for most, due to low pensions. Experts emphasize that without a more structured and coordinated intervention, the phenomenon of loneliness and abandonment of the elderly risks deepening even further.

"I heard that the Korça retirement home is full and has a waiting list. This is alarming in terms of abandonment of the elderly. I say that it is very difficult to leave parents at this age, when they lose all vital and functional skills, to let them survive in a dramatic way. I am aware that another residential center has been opened that offers medical and social services for the elderly, but even these centers require a certain budget and good financial standing. Current pensions in Albania do not allow elderly people to pay for these services. Therefore, the municipality should come to their aid with a special schedule according to neighborhoods, where the elderly are monitored by social workers twice a day."

The latest data makes this situation even more alarming. In the last 6 months alone, 6 cases of natural deaths in the apartment have been registered in the entire Korça region, with 3 of them recorded in Maliq and 3 in the city of Korça. Figures that, beyond the numbers, show a painful reality of loneliness and lack of care for the elderly, requiring immediate and more coordinated intervention by the family and institutions./ CNA