Abstract

The aim of this study was to gain knowledge regarding social inclusion of elderly disabled people into the community. Latest studies show that in 2030, 23% of the Chilean population will exceed 60 years of age, which will make Chile a country with one of the highest ageing population in South America. Older people that tend to live longer are prone to enter stages of disability related to aging itself. There exist actions from government and actual legislation for elderly with disabilities, but whether these strategies and programs reached the final beneficiaries remained unclear. Method: A social innovative study was carried out in two counties of central Chile, where a universe of 421.067 older persons live and 320 were part of a sample that helped to gather the evidence obtained in a cross sectional model research. A survey was administered to examine the gap of social inclusion in four main domains to determine the level of satisfaction with the services provided by the government and the community. All subjects signed an informed consent, following ethical principles for medical research in humans established in the Declaration of Helsinki (1964). Results: Four dimensions were identified as critical being these: managing, resources, communication and social participation. They all had a high correlation to the perceived needs for social integration and inclusion. These findings were obtained regardless the type and degree of disability of the subjects. Conclusion: Social inclusion was not sufficient to the degree of expectative the beneficiaries had.