The Senior Census Operation began yesterday, to identify elderly people living alone or in isolation an in turn help the GNR to reduce the risk of the elderly becoming victims of crimes.
Last years census identified more than 44,000 elderly people who live alone and/or isolated, or in vulnerable situations, said the GNR.
In a statement, the National Republican Guard (GNR) explains that the operation will run until November 15th throughout the country and involves patrolling and raising awareness among the elderly to reinforce self-protection and safety precautions, particularly in situations of violence, fraud and theft.
The 2024 Senior Census operation involves around 400 military personnel from the GNR's Crime Prevention and Community Policing sections, distributed throughout the country, with the collaboration of various local and national partners too.
This year, the GNR is extending the operation as it considers it is still essential to alert elderly people to self-protection procedures in situations of violence, scams, con jobs and theft in homes, as well as to prevent behaviour associated with alcohol consumption, combat social isolation, identify informal caregivers and train this population to use the internet.
The interior of the country was where most isolated elderly people or those living alone were identified, with the district of Guarda at the top, with 5477 elderly people identified, followed by Vila Real (5,360), Viseu (3,528), Faro (3,513), Bragança (3,347), Beja (3,230), Évora (2,972) and Portalegre (2,892).
In last year's edition, the GNR also carried out 304 awareness-raising actions in the classroom and 2,651 “door-to-door” actions, covering a total of 24,978 elderly people.
The Senior Census operation has been running since 2011, updating the geographic location of this population each year.
This operation is part of the “Support 65 – Elderly in Safety” program, from the Ministry of Internal Administration, which aims to guarantee better safety conditions for elderly people.
