The isolation of seniors is a subject that is rarely talked about. However, in our society, a large number of them very often find themselves alone. Last year, we told you about Fiona Lauriol, who had taken her grandmother out of her EHPAD to take her on a trip, she wrote a book about this adventure.
Indeed, everyone is not necessarily lucky enough to live close to the oldest members of their family and therefore it is not always easy to visit them. As a result, given that they are not always able to move around and leave their homes independently, it can happen that they spend long weeks without seeing anyone and without contact with the outside world.
To prevent this feeling of deep loneliness from continuing to be felt by her grandmother who was wasting away in a retirement home, in 2018, Fiona Lauriol decided to go on a trip with her . Thus, for 3 years, they crisscrossed Spain and Portugal together and traveled more than 15,000 kilometers in a motorhome. This journey rich in emotions and whose main goal was to fight against what the 40-year-old woman calls «social death», gave rise to a book entitled «101 years, grandma goes on the loose». And since then, the work has become a real warning cry for an entire population.
“A lot of elderly people have contacted me to tell me, ‘After 70 or 80, you no longer feel considered, that’s also social death’. I am thinking of Fatima, visually impaired, who called ten associations for help. All pass the buck when she just wants us to help her open a Facebook page. To this 90-year-old grandmother whose granddaughters prevent her from traveling, to protect her, while she dreams of it,” said Fiona.
Sadly, Fiona’s grandmother, named Dominique, lost her life in 2021. But thanks to her granddaughter’s selflessness and love, she was no doubt blessed to enjoy her life until at the end, which is obviously not the case for everyone. To continue to raise awareness about the isolation of seniors , Fiona is now embarking on a new adventure with her parents. “We are going across France for a year to raise awareness about the malaise of isolated seniors through conferences and debates,” she confided.
Between the conferences, notably in Paris alongside the writer Sylvain Tesson or at associations such as Les petits frères des poor, and the multiple passages planned in the media, one thing is certain, the program promises to be busy. And several concrete measures could well come out of these public meetings on the theme of the isolation of the elderly. For example, Thierry, Fiona’s dad, believes that «the first solution would be to create a single entry point for all requests» and above all hopes that their approach «will encourage social actors to take the measure of the issue as well as civil society and elected officials to move things forward together.»