Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

ELDERLY

More Danes than ever reaching 100th birthdays

Increasing numbers of Danes are enjoying long lives with more years of good mental health, says a report.

Published: 14 June 2017 19:05 CEST
More Danes than ever reaching 100th birthdays
Legendary Danish journalist and author Lise Nørgaard celebrating her 100th birthday in Copenhagen. Photo: Martin Sylvest/Scanpix

Three times as many people in Denmark are reaching their centenaries compared to 25 years ago, reports broadcaster DR.

The report says that 1,143 Danes could boast one hundred years of life at the beginning of 2017, compared with 367 in 1992.

The list of Danish centenarians now also includes hugely-popular author and journalist Lise Nørgaard, creator of the legendary 1970s DR television series Matador, who celebrates her 100th birthday today.

Despite her high age, Nørgaard was able to give a series of in-depth interviews to the broadcaster for a documentary programme to be released to mark her centenary.

Improved living conditions in a host of aspects, including better working environments, housing, healthcare and elderly care can all be thanked for the longer and better quality of senior years enjoyed by increasing numbers of Danes, says the report.

READ ALSO: Denmark is one of the best places to grow old

Kaare Christensen, head of the Centre for Age Research at the University of Southern Denmark, told DR that the trend of longer and better lives was likely to continue.

“Elderly people reach old age with better and better mental states, and the data we have… indicates that this progression will continue for many years. It appears that a good start in life with regard to IQ also means high IQ is retained in later life,” he said.

Danish military recruitment tests have shown an increase in the average intelligence of young men during the 20th century, according to DR’s report.

“The combination of a good head, IT and economy is positive both for the elderly and on a societal level, as it means elderly people can do many things themselves,” Christensen said.

The current average life expectancy for Danes is 82.2 years for women and 78.8 years for men, according to Statistics Denmark.

But although its number of centenarians is increasing, Denmark still finds itself behind many other OECD countries on life expectancy at the age of 65.

READ ALSO: Denmark's oldest woman dies at 110

ELDERLY

Spain’s prosecutors file criminal complaint over virus care home death

Spanish prosecutors said Tuesday they have filed a criminal complaint against a Madrid care home doctor and its director over the Covid-related death of a resident, in the first such case in the capital region since the start of the pandemic

Published: 15 December 2020 15:49 CET
Spain's prosecutors file criminal complaint over virus care home death
Photo: AFP

Madrid's public prosecutor's office said the two women are suspected of manslaughter and denial of medical attention in relation to the death in March of a woman in her 80s who had just moved into the home.   

Madrid was one of the hardest-hit cities in Europe by the first wave of the pandemic, and the complaint is expected to be one of several alleging inadequate care at retirement homes during the period.

In a statement, the prosecutor's office said the doctor and the director of the home, who were not named, did not follow the protocol set up by the Madrid regional government for caring for residents during the pandemic.

The doctor “disregarded” the protocol and did not call a hospital about the woman, despite her worsening condition, until eight days after she began having breathing trouble.

“Despite her rapid transfer to hospital, she died the following day from cardiac arrest,” the statement said.

The care home's director “was aware of the patient's clinical situation (but) did nothing” to ensure she received health care during periods when the doctor was absent, notably on the weekend before her death, it added.   

Amnesty International warned earlier this month that conditions at elderly care homes in the Madrid region and in Catalonia remained “alarming” despite improvements.

In a sharply worded report, it said the “vast majority” of residents had not been properly cared for during the pandemic.

The measures put in place by both regions were “inefficient and inadequate” and violated the residents' rights, it said.   

Spain has been one of Europe's worst-hit countries, with the virus infecting more than 1.7 million people and causing over 48,000 deaths.

Close to half of that number are believed to be elderly people who died in homes, Amnesty said.

At the height of the first wave in March, Spanish soldiers helping to fight the pandemic found elderly patients in retirement homes abandoned and, in some cases, dead in their beds.

READ MORE: 

SHOW COMMENTS