"We want not only to give more years of life to the elderly but also to have more life in years." With these words, the Minister of Social Affairs of the Canary Islands Government, María Luisa Zamora, summarized the spirit of the new residence for the elderly, inaugurated this Wednesday in the municipality of Tías. The new equipment is included in the Disability Care Plan that the Government of the Canary Islands began in 2005 with the opening of two centers (Tinajo and Arrecife), and will continue next week with the inauguration of the residence in Haría.
This new care center for the elderly consists of 90 places, to which are added 20 that will be for daily care. The future residents will have services of: physiotherapy, rehabilitation, memory workshops and leisure, as well as external services of podiatry and hairdressing. But apart from the qualified attention of the professionals, the Minister of Social Affairs highlights "the human care and attention" that the elderly will receive from highly qualified professionals.
The implementation of this new equipment is framed with the application of The Dependency Law that the Government of the Canary Islands wishes to implement on the Island. A measure that has had, according to the Minister, important contributions from the Archipelago Executive, such as "the inclusion in it of children from 0 to 3 years old", and the adaptation of the regulations to "the special characteristics of remoteness and insularity of the Islands". In addition, she explained that the Canary Islands Government has created the Dependency Service, and more than 80 assessors have been trained to care for the most dependent people.
Reconciling work and personal life
The Minister agreed with the mayor of Tías, José Juan Cruz, in highlighting the importance of the elderly in "the consolidation of the welfare society in which we live", while recalling the obligation of institutions to "return the effort made by the elderly" with centers and resources that allow them to age with quality.
The new infrastructure aims to cover a demand that until now had been forgotten. Specifically, the reconciliation of women's work life with their personal life. The Minister stated that women "will be able to access their jobs with the guarantee that their elderly and children will be cared for by authentic professionals".
As of today, the framework of collaboration and co-financing of the Dependency Law between the Central Government and the Canary Islands Government is not yet defined. However, the Minister, who defined the inauguration of the new center as "a happy day" for all those who work in the welfare of the elderly, promised that the Government will continue working so that "the elderly can enjoy the best resources. In this sense, she announced the opening next week of a new residence in the municipality of Haría.
