Acceso usuarios
María del Carmen García Garnica 
In recent years, developed countries have become aware of the qualitative and quantitative implications of the phenomenon of dependency, since the increase in the number of people in this situation due to either age or illness is a global phenomenon. This concern has resulted in an attempt to provide a conceptual definition of dependency itself, understood in general terms as a permanent situation in which some people – for reasons of age, illness or physical or psychological disability – lack the functional capacity to perform the basic activities of daily living without the assistance of third parties or other support for their personal autonomy. Thus, two differentiated elements characterise dependency: on the one hand, the inability to carry out the activities of daily living and on the other hand, the need for third-party care or assistance, which, by definition, must be long-term care
