This assistance aims to facilitate the daily lives of elderly people who wish to stay at home as long as possible. Here’s what you need to do to benefit from it.
It’s a sad reality. As many people age, they struggle to make ends meet. With an often modest retirement, rising medical costs and expenses to compensate for their loss of autonomy, the costs generally accumulate very quickly. Which inevitably creates a certain financial pressure. However, in France, there is very specific financial assistance for people aged over 60 who have difficulty moving, dressing, cooking, washing or managing their personal affairs. In other words, a person who gradually loses their autonomy, and who needs help to accomplish daily tasks. According to the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED), this currently concerns 1 in 7 seniors.
This subsidy helps finance part of the expenses necessary to stay at home or live in a specialized establishment (shared accommodation for seniors, nursing home or long-term care unit). And unlike other aid, to be able to receive it, there are no resource conditions to respect. This is personalized autonomy assistance, also called APA. Concretely, the APA can be used to pay for home help services (domestic help, help getting up or going to bed, laundry care, etc.), a home meal delivery service, medical equipment (bars). support for toilets and showers, lighting to avoid falling while moving at night, etc.)
As explained above, APA is not awarded on a means-tested basis. Any person residing in France, aged at least 60 and experiencing a loss of autonomy, is eligible. On the other hand, the amount of aid is calculated according to the level of your income and your degree of loss of autonomy. It can reach up to 1955.60 euros per month, and is paid by the department. Furthermore, the amount can be reviewed and increased if the presence of a caregiver is essential for the elderly person.
If you want to request it, please note that depending on the department, the procedures must be done online or via a paper form to be sent to the autonomy service in your region or to your pension fund depending on your situation. In all cases, your request must be completed with several supporting documents: a copy of your identity card, a copy of your last tax notice, a bank identity statement and in certain cases a medical certificate as well as ‘a photocopy of your last property tax notice. For more information, do not hesitate to contact the National Solidarity Fund for Autonomy (CNSA) or to contact directly the territorial autonomy service near you.
