Abstract

The aim of this study was to gain knowledge regarding social inclusion of elderly disabledpeople into the community. Latest studies show that in 2030, 23% of the Chilean populationwill exceed 60 years of age, which will make Chile a country with one of the highest ageingpopulation in South America. Older people that tend to live longer are prone to enter stagesof disability related to aging itself. There exist actions from the State and actual legislation for elderly with disabilities, but whether these strategies and programs reached the nalbeneciaries 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 werepart of a sample that helped to gather the evidence obtained in a cross sectional modelresearch. 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 State 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 identied as critical being these: managing, resources, communication and social participation. They all had a high correlation to the perceived needs for social integration, inclusion and well-being. These ndings were obtained regardless the typeand degree of disability of the subjects. Conclusion: Social inclusion was not sufcient to the degree of expectative the beneciaries had from services provided by the State.