reflection paper

Carvalho, M. (2014) Social work and intervention with older people in Portugal: a critical point of view. European Journal of Social Work. 17(3), 336-352, DOI: 10.1080/13691457.2014.905459

Portugal just like many other developing countries has not had a smooth handling of the old generation and their social policies. It is unfortunate that it had to take until 1970 for social welfare of the old people to gain momentum. Late blooming was a result of unfavorable political environment under the dictatorial framework that curtailed any constructive transition. However, with establishment of democratic governance, unprecedented progress was observed with universally compliant social policies being implemented. The senior population in Portugal comprising of people who are 65 year and above overtook the young population of children 14 year and below. With this turn of events, diverse developments have taken place affecting the welfare of the ageing population at large.

Despite the undeniable and overwhelming reality of the steady increase in the number of the ageing population, the development of the social facilities and social security system has not been of equivalent nature. These achievements are worth appreciation considering the journey so far, but considering that the foundation of all this started 83 years ago; we should be far beyond what we currently pride ourselves in. They can only be considered revolutionary on benchmarking them on the global scale. Credit to the post dictatorial era that has streamlined the system and the channels on course towards achieving the once a dream of social, political and civil justice come true (Pereirinha, 1995). However, progress has stagnated due to the rigidity of the current policies that lack dynamism.

All along, the problem was the system and policies accompanying it. During the strenuous period of the mid 20th century, the social welfare was considered a charitable event where the old-age people would receive care and assistance through philanthropic actions and from charitable organizations (Pereirinha, 1995). It robed the old-aged citizens a right to claim the benefits deemed so fit simply because their care and welfare was regarded as privilege rather that a constitutionally accepted civil and social right. It is so unfortunate that despite Portugal being one of the mighty countries in the colonial period, integration of social work to her systems commenced post 1960 upon initiation to industrialization. When it started, a holistic approach was employed that tasked individuals as well as organizations to take an active role about the choices and access to the health, resources and social services concerning the national network of integrated continuous care Act. Although at the initial stages, the policies gained unprecedented success, the conservative approach limits care services in general (Estes and Lee, 1981).

In Portugal, the senior citizens with pension plans, as of 2012, are equivalent to 29.6% of the total population. Out of that, the proportion that uses the social facilities is less than half with specific analysis of those facilities indicating a less than 6% usage. The root problem of this is lack of an all inclusive solutions and innovative projects undertaken by the Portuguese social work care managers who in turn isolates and overlooks the most vulnerable older people and how to meet their abilities and needs (Pereirinha, 1995). This is a population faced with one of the extreme poverty levels and therefore out of pocket spending should be cut back to suit their financial status. However, the approach taken by the central government to cut the government spending on the social amenities will further reduce the already worse situation (Estes and Lee, 1981). The funds are the only way of bridging the socioeconomic disparities experienced after retirement.

Portugal uses the centralized method of providing social care with the parish, a local government unit being the main the main organ responsible for implementation of services and programmes for old citizens (Nelson, 1982). Besides, successive care in line with the central governments is developed by the local government to cater for the old people, as do the charities, NGOs, foundations and non-profit organizations. Generally, this accounts for the 68.1% of all the resources of which all of them have to operate in accordance to the central government. This standardized approach is good for all the facilities so that they provide low quality services. However, this system hampers other revolutionary changes that some organization may have due to the financial constrains and reliance on the central governments for capital resources. This in turn renders them powerless in stamping their authority and pursuing their own management structures for the benefit of the old people (Macedo, 2016).

The biggest mysteries facing the policing institutions is uncovering whom among the elderly enjoys the benefits of the government aid and if they access it in accordance to the need. One thing that has followed industrialization has been massive modernization and urbanization. This in turn has raised the standard of living. This significantly affects the quality of services provided in the public social facilities (Birk, 2016). Considering that the socioeconomic position of an individual relies on the period prior retirement, the needy and homeless find themselves victims of the system. Decentralization of the services and the resources has directly affected the number of people of people who have both accessibility and affordability of the services. The perennial cut back on the spending on the social services can explain the reason of the poor ranking of the country at position 25 globally when it comes to provision of social services (Pereirinha, 1995).

The corporative system employed by the government hampers the penetration and thus access to the poor and needy members of the society by failing to address the disadvantaged group of the community (Nelson, 1982). This redistributive criteria ingrained in institutional systems oppresses and impedes a certain group of people to understand how to how to satisfactorily expand their expertise in social spaces. This is due to the fact the institutionalized system deprives them the breathing space required during the interaction, freedom of expression and feeling, perspective and communication. The social uses a pluralistic approach that in turn trims the special attention that the needy group and minority group faces. Commoditization and redistribution of the social services displays disparity that are more pronounced on cultural grounds.

There is a global appeal to the Portuguese government to delegate autonomy and accountability to the decentralized organs. It is worrying that even at this time, the government has not adopted the personalized and individualized socialization that focuses on enabling individuals to take an active role in the society unlike one whole role is protection (Pereirinha, 1995). While other nations are making progressive strides towards a better future, the government has taken a retrogressive approach. Besides reducing the spending, the government has decided to privatize the sector with the mask of playing the regulatory role. However, these private players are profit centered and therefore seek personal satisfaction at the expense of the communal benefit. This has had an adverse effect on the employment sector as well since it has worsened the terms of service and consequently created social risks (Estes and Lee, 1981).

The government is caving to external pressure from the global village especially the European Union. Portugal being one of the southern European countries experienced industrialization late and thus has a relatively less developed economy. Therefore, there government should have adopted a procedurally slower transitional approach in which the government switches the grip on institutionalized system towards stern regulatory actions. However, failure to do that led the country to experience an increase in unemployment rate from 7.6% in 2008 to 16.3% in 2014. This in turn contributes to deterioration of social services. This move wok against to the comparative affordable care Act currently applied in the US and that has increased accessibility. The current system works against empowering the older people socioeconomically (Macedo, 2008).

Reference

i. Nelson, G. (1982) Social Class and Public Policy for the Elderly. Chicago Journals. 56(1), 85-107.

ii. Birk, H. (2016) United States National Healthcare Policies 2015: An Analysis with Implications for the Future of Medicine. Cureus 8(1), 1-5. DOI 10.7759/cureus.451

iii. Macedo, E. (2008) Social Policy, Legal and Social Services in Portugal: New Social Policies and Current Debates. Social Darbas. 7(3), 26-34.

iv. Pereirinha, J. (1995) Poverty and Social Exclusion in Portugal: A General Overview of Situation, Process and Policies. Druzboslovne razprave. XI(19-20), 169-182

v. Estes, C. and Lee, P. (1981) Policy Shifts and Their Impact on Health Care for Elderly Persons. The Western Journal of Medicine. 135(6), 511-518.

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