Conference Agenda

As demographic trends forecast significant aging in the coming decades, it is crucial to redefine the role of elderly as a vital resource for modern society. This study examines the concept of active aging through a series of mathematical models, focusing on overlapping generations comprising three groups: children, parents, and grandparents. Within these models, elderly (grandparents) play an essential role by dedicating part of their time to educating or providing care for their grandchildren.

By incorporating these intergenerational dynamics, we explore how the active involvement of elderly fosters human capital accumulation and contributes to long-term economic growth. The models reveal that when grandparents actively engage with younger generations, the transfer of knowledge, skills, and values strengthens societal ties and creates virtuous cycles of growth. Moreover, this interaction alleviates some of the caregiving burden on parents, enabling them to participate more effectively in the workforce and further enhancing productivity.

Our findings underscore the untapped potential of older people as key contributors to human capital development. Active aging not only benefits individual families but also promotes broader social and economic progress. This research supports policies that encourage elderly participation in educational and caregiving activities, emphasizing their indispensable role in shaping resilient and thriving communities.

One of the main societal challenges of our time is population ageing. Demographic changes are producing new needs, especially in high-income countries, and intersect with other contemporary trends, such as climate change and digitalisation. Addressing informal caregivers' current and future role in society is therefore crucial, keeping in mind the prevalence of women in paid and unpaid care work, an activity that is often devalued and rather “invisible” in our societies. This study focuses on the well-being and work situation of older adults’ caregivers, using a gender lens. Data are gathered through a survey conducted in the Marche region about the use of health and social care services involving both care recipients and their informal caregivers. In this study, only data concerning caregivers are analysed. The results show that male caregivers feel stressed out more than women when they have other care commitments in addition to elder care, despite women declaring to be more stressed than men on average. Female caregivers report also more negative effects on health in general, and feel more tired when they have other care commitments in addition to elder care. The results - albeit geographically limited - show that men still experience care as an activity “outside of the male domain”. This study contributes to the debate about the necessity of tackling gender inequalities in care and promoting caregivers’ health and wellbeing.

Support for unpaid care is receiving increasing attention from policy makers in Europe and internationally. Despite the fragmentation of national welfare policies, international stakeholders and governments at various levels converge in recognising unpaid care as a key element for the sustainability of formal care systems. This reflects the fact that informal care does represent the backbone of Long-Term Care (LTC) systems, particularly in familistic care regimes, but is rarely placed at the center of policymaking in this sector.

Based on this background, this paper provides an analysis of Italian regional policies for informal caregivers of older people with LTC needs in the light of the main international recommendations in this field, grouped into three categories: recognition, participation and information sources; support measures and services; transversal aspects.

Drawing on secondary data analysis, expert interviews and a bottom-up consultation of main stakeholders in this field, core results of the study highlight that: 1) definitions of carer range from more restrictive formulations based on kinship bonds to more inclusive ones based on affective bonds; 2) a framework law on carers is no guarantee of adequate support, this being often better ensured by concrete measures; 3) this applies also to support services and measures, mainly concentrated on few categories: access to services (especially respite and home care), information and training, monetary benefits; 4) less attention is paid to transversal aspects like gender equity and intergenerational relations; 5) the amount of resources allocated is a key factor to implement effective support in the domain.

The contribution investigates the key role of language training of caregivers with a migrant background involved in elderly care, a growing concern considering demographic ageing and Italy’s “familistic” welfare model (Ferrera, 1996; Vietti, 2019). The research is based on a qualitative survey, conducted in the framework of the SAFINA project (2024), through interviews with a sample of ten women from Eastern Europe.

Findings reveal that limited language proficiency constitutes a significant barrier both to communicating with the elderly and their families, and to accessing crucial information for the beneficiaries’ safety and well-being (Santoni, 2022). Additionally, a marked cultural divergence between caregivers and care recipients often generates misunderstandings and operational challenges. While caregivers declare to employ self-directed learning strategies (TV, social media, informal interactions), they acknowledge that such methods are ineffective without structured training support.

Thanks to data gathered, the study moves towards the design of tailored training programs grounded in the “Language for Work” approach (Braddell & Grünhage-Monetti, 2017), combining L2 teaching and the development of professional and intercultural skills. We also discuss the potential of “mobile language learning” (Kukulska-Hulme & Shield, 2008) as a complementary tool for blended training, aligned with caregivers’ needs.

These initiatives are tailored to the specific features of the professional domain under analysis. They aim at fostering a more effective socio-occupational inclusion of migrant caregivers, while contributing to innovation in elderly care services.