The French city of Dijon has started a new experimentation to address two current trends: the reduction in postal mailings and the ageing of the population. The idea is to assign about one thousand postmen to support older people’s independent living in remote areas and combat their isolation.
In partnership with some rural municipalities, postmen will be in charge of carrying out scrutiny – check that the most vulnerable older persons are fine and are recieving what they need – and bring assistance to them at home, e.g. in delivering their shopping or medicines.
A questionnaire will be handed out to 60,000 inhabitants aged over 80 and living – mostly alone – in remote areas with a view to identifying isolated older persons. The final objective will be to guide the isolated person towards a public assistance structure when needed.