Elderly Empowerment: Insights from the International Forum on Old Age

Growing older, or at least aging gracefully, no longer means falling into the marginal categories of frailty, illness, or loneliness. The so-called third age is increasingly revealed as a treasure trove of energy, which is not always fully utilized due to various prejudices—many of which even the elderly harbor against themselves.

However, to dispel this kind of misconception, it would be enough to quote a passage from the third report on “Being elderly today” that Giuseppe Bertoldi, national president of Fenacom (and of Fiapa, the international organization that coordinates initiatives and proposals for 256 million members), and Nadio Delai will illustrate to the 1700 congress attendees. These participants, from Thursday the 5th to Wednesday the 11th, will animate the first edition of the International Forum on Old Age inside and around the Palazzo dei Congressi.

Statistics on the elderly and their social role

The report, which involved collaboration from Giuseppe De Rita, outgoing president of Cnel, indicates that among the elderly (not just the 400,000 from Fenacom), 17.6% have an income exceeding 4.5 million lire net per month; 24.7% fall between 2.3 and 4.5 million; 22% between 1.7 and 2.3 million; 24.4% between 900,000 and 1.7 million; and the remaining 11.3% earn less than 900,000 lire monthly.

This data confirms that elderly individuals are fully capable of exercising their role as consumers. To do so—and to remain active and leading figures within the social context—it is necessary to remove a series of barriers, some of which are psychological, others related to education and generational interactions.

Organization of the forum and its societal impact

This topic is at the heart of the forum organized by 50&Più of Fenacom. The response has been decidedly strong, as evidenced by the announcement of 1,700 overnight stays from the end of this week to mid-next week: the Palacongressi, which also benefited from the consultancy of Mario Malossini, was compelled to seek accommodations in hotels in Limone and Malcesine to host everyone.

For Gianni Zontini’s company, successfully organizing the conference is a double achievement: they not only managed to guarantee a good number of high-quality visitors during a favorable period for the local economy but also gained access, through Fenacom and the magazine 50&Più, to a target market of potential clients long sought after.

Indeed, in the gaps left by the majority summer clientele—mainly cyclists and surfers—tourism managers in Riva aimed to include a set of visitors that would ensure profitability. If Riva and the Garda meet expectations, there is a real possibility that word of mouth will spread among the large community of elderly people, further boosting the event’s success.