The Committee on Social Rights, Equality, Diversity and Youth of the Parliament of the Canary Islands addressed this Tuesday the Municipal Plan against Unwanted Loneliness launched by the City Council of San Bartolomé in this mandate. After the presentation, the mayor, Isidro Pérez, recalled that the plan, initiated in 2020 and developed so far in two phases, makes the municipality a benchmark in the Canary Islands in terms of assistance and support to the group of older people.
“With this initiative, we pursue, as a main objective, to change the way of understanding this stage of life: to live more, but also better, in a clear commitment to social welfare and the dignity of older people”, he expressed. Pérez highlighted the work that the City Council has been developing in these three and a half years to avoid social isolation in a group that is particularly affected by the physical, emotional and psychological impact of this type of situation.
“It is about guaranteeing a better quality of life through active aging”, explained the mayor, and indicated that the second part of the intervention plan, presented in 2022 under the slogan ‘Count on me, zero loneliness’, focuses on human and professional treatment in homes, prioritizing the detection of those cases of greater fragility.
Within the framework of the project, activities are developed that promote autonomy in the two municipal centers for the elderly, where 350 people participate in cognitive stimulation workshops, social relations, physical exercise, cultural activities or the use of new technologies, among others.
Isidro Pérez highlighted, on the other hand, the telephone line against unwanted loneliness activated from the City Council, a tool with which it is intended to promote social relations from the most absolute confidentiality.
The mayor emphasized, within the framework of the policies for the elderly launched in the current mandate, the important role that the Family Respite Center is called to play, a work that is practically completed. “This is a complex project, also from an administrative point of view, but of which we are especially proud in the Municipal Government Group”, says Isidro Pérez.
The Municipal Plan against Unwanted Loneliness of San Bartolomé is also an opportunity for the youth of the municipality, both for the support initiatives that have the participation of young people and for the generation of employment opportunities in the actions that are contemplated.
