Christmas - "Silbernetz" hotline continuously available until New Year
A special hotline in Berlin is also offering a sympathetic ear for lonely senior citizens over the holidays. From December 24 until New Year, the Silbernetz will be available around the clock and throughout Germany, according to a spokeswoman for the Berlin-based association. In the same period last year, the telephone rang a total of 5628 times. The hotline can be reached daily, but not around the clock.
"It makes me both happy and sad to see how Silbernetz is developing and how urgently it is needed - around 20 percent more calls every year with all the topics that concern older people in their unique diversity," said Silbernetz initiator Elke Schilling in a statement.
According to the association, most of the callers "just want to talk" (84 percent). 58 percent talk about loneliness and 68 percent about physical complaints.
Most calls are made on Sundays
In the dark and cold season, more senior citizens generally call the telephone hotline, it said. Most calls are usually made on Sundays.
By mid-December, the Silbernetz had recorded 148,000 calls this year. That was an average of 1900 calls per week. 20 percent of callers were men, 80 percent women. Most of the calls came from Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg.
From 8 a.m. on Christmas Eve until 10 p.m. on New Year's Day, the Silver Line is available around the clock on +49 800 4 70 80 90.
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- The Silbernetz hotline, offering support to lonely senior citizens, will continue to operate around the clock during the 'Turn of the year' until New Year, providing a vital service across Germany.
- Despite the availability of the silver mesh hotline, it was reported that last year, a total of 5628 calls were made, indicating the rising issue of loneliness among Senior citizens in Germany, particularly during the festive season like Christmas.
- Elke Schilling, the initiator of the Silbernetz hotline, expressed her mixed feelings about the increasing number of calls, stating that it's both happy and sad to see the urgent need for such services, with a 20% rise in calls year by year.
- Berlin emerged as the city with the highest number of calls to the Silbernetz hotline, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg, suggesting that social isolation is not a regional problem but a national one that requires a collective response.
- With the approach of New Year, the Silver Line hotline will be active 24/7 from 8 am on Christmas Eve until 10 pm on New Year's Day, offering a lifeline and a sympathetic ear to seniors dealing with loneliness and other issues, fostering a more social and inclusive society in Germany.
Source: www.stern.de
