Villagecare: the new partner of Italian caregiver children

Villagecare is the first Italian web portal devoted to 3 million caregiver children. This term defines all those children who take care of their old parents. Villagecare was launched in 2015 by Silvia Turzio and Paola Casalino - two professionals in social assistance and care - with the aim of providing support to caregiver children. Together with their parents, these children constantly face the hardships deriving from the ageing. Being very effective in providing everyday and customized assistance to the users, the Villagecare was awarded as best startup of the year by Milan municipality.

The use of Villagecare is really straightforward and easy. With a simple click, the user can select the geographic area(s) he or she is interested in, spotting what he or she is looking for, such as nursing homes, recreational day centres and professionals specialized in home assistance. The online platform also allows the user to compare prices and offers.

Silvia Turzio - Villagecare CEO and co-founder - has several times pointed out the purpose of her company, being well aware of the serious challenges families face when taking care of an old parent. Furthermore, Mrs Turzio highlighted how it is normally women between 45 and 60 years old (70%) who take care of their old parents while being wives and mothers at the same time. This is why Villagecare was founded, to be the caregiver's partner in organising the new life, also in terms of family finances, holidays, medical visits and everything concerning the daily routine.

Given that people over 65 years old represent 22.3% of total population, Villagecare appears quite significant in Italy. At least 4 millions of elderly are not autonomous anymore and 50% of them is taken care by children.  This data is very useful to give an idea of how the population of caregiver children is substantial in Italy so as to stress the great support these families need.

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