The imperative of caring for the dependent elderly person.

This text presents an overview of aging in Brazil and information that highlights the need to create instruments to deal with the exponential increase of the elderly population, particularly those who lose their physical, cognitive, mental/emotional, and social autonomy. Examples of public policies created by European countries, notably Spain, show how they act to protect the most vulnerable individuals and provide support to their families, especially to the informal caregivers. The whole process of protection for the long-lived is perceived as a form of social solidarity in which the State and sub-national entities, society, the families and the elderly people themselves participate.