Senior citizens have the right to participate, but also to privacy

Fortunately, life expectancy is increasing, but Austria is not yet optimally prepared for the growing number of older people. "Older people have a right to participate in social, cultural and political life. However, they cannot exercise this right if retirement and nursing homes are located far away from the town centre on greenfield sites, or if trains, train stations and public places are not barrier-free," says Ombudsperson Bernhard Achitz on the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons (1 October): "On the other hand, older people also have a right to privacy. This is restricted if they have to live in a double room in an old people's home against their will, without being able to retreat."

Don't build retirement homes on greenfield sites!

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) stipulates that people with disabilities have access to the physical environment, transport, roads, buildings, open spaces, information and communication as well as other public facilities and services on an equal basis with others. "The location of retirement and care homes is also crucial to ensuring that older people in need of care can participate in social life," says Achitz. A 15a agreement between the federal and provincial governments stipulates that the location of the homes (new buildings and extensions) "must be integrated into the community as far as possible so that links to the environment are maintained".

The Austrian Ombudsman Board is responsible for preventive human rights monitoring in retirement and nursing homes, among other places. Its commissions make unannounced visits to more than 500 facilities. And time and again, they come across conditions that restrict the participation of residents, for example:

• One facility in Tyrol is located away from a town with around 10,000 inhabitants and can only be reached via a steep access road. Due to the extreme mountain or hillside location, the residents have no opportunity to go for a walk or spend time outside the centre.
• The steep access road to a care home in Styria is an insurmountable obstacle for people with walking disabilities or wheelchair users. It is not possible for them to get to the shops on the main street or the café independently

Single rooms must not depend on money

However, the UN CRPD also includes the right to respect for privacy: people with disabilities must not "be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with their privacy, family, home, correspondence or other forms of communication ... regardless of their place of residence or the type of housing in which they live". ". Residents of care facilities should therefore also have an area of retreat where they can spend time without unpleasant influences and disturbances. Achitz: "They must be able to decide for themselves between single and shared rooms. This should not depend on money."

Time and again, residents tell the Ombudsman Board's commissions that they would prefer to live in a single room. They say that having another person in the room is unpleasant and that their moaning, snoring, screaming, complaining and sometimes inconsiderate behaviour by visitors is a nuisance. Different needs in terms of room temperature, resting and waking times, etc. lead to stress as well as difficulties falling asleep and sleeping through the night. Achitz: "Of course, such problems should not be solved with sleeping pills or psychotropic drugs." This would be a medicinal restriction of freedom, the permissibility and reporting obligation of which is strictly regulated by the Nursing and Residential Homes Residence Act (HeimAufG).

In the case of double occupancy of rooms, care must at least be taken to ensure that there is a good understanding between all parties involved. Privacy must be maintained during care activities, for example by means of screens or curtains. However, one Tyrolean facility had still not finished installing all the screens five years after the commission's last visit.