Covid and RSA. “Since March 2020 I will not have lunch with my mother”, the appeal of the family

“Have the RSAs reopened for visits with family members? I would like to be able to answer yes, but the dozens of reports we receive as Orsan make us less optimistic”. Reports, but also direct experiences, because “for example, since March 2020 I do not know what clothes my mother has in her closet, I cannot eat something with her and above all I continue to be able to see her for a maximum of one hour a day. More than 2 hours have passed. years and 2 months “. This is the situation described at Adnkronos Salute by Dario Francolino, founder and president of Orsan (Open Rsa Now), a movement born in the darkest times of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the elderly in nursing homes lived in forced isolation, far away from every affection. “In particular – he explains – in some Italian regions such as Sardinia, in part of Lazio and in Veneto, the openings remain intermittent”. Not only: “When we talk about reopening – Francolino points out – unfortunately we are not referring to a reopening as in the times prior to February 2020, but to small openings that do not allow most of the more than 2 million family members of the 4,300 RSA guests Italians to return to the rooms of their loved ones “.” Unfortunately – the number one of Orsan fears – the risk I see is that, once the emergency and total closure phase has passed, some bad habits taken at the time of the lockdown become permanent pejorative changes. At the level of associations we are working in small ranks, all being volunteers, to highlight these problems. But our voice is too weak to be heard and I have strong doubts: instead of moving forward – this is Francolino’s regret – we are turning back ” .