In a frenetic era, dominated by technology, immediacy, and the accelerated pace of life, we have come across a phenomenon that affects a part of the population that, unilaterally, all other groups have decided is not capable of adapting to these circumstances: ageism.
Discrimination based on age-related reasons are prejudices that assume that all members in a certain age range think and behave in the same way. It is evident that more groups suffer from it, but if we focus on the invisibility of older people, the problem is accentuated and the focus is placed on those people who once gave us everything they had so that we are where we are today.
It is often and erroneously assumed that these people are less capable and are even infantilized, which is paradoxical, since they are the ones who have gone through a lifetime full of experiences, difficulties, and achievements.
In San Bartolomé, we have not wanted to replicate these errors and, under the motto of leaving no one behind, we have not stopped working hand in hand with the Senior Centers of the municipality, and with many other people who row in the same direction as us, to provide our seniors with an active and dignified aging, focused on making them feel part of society, as they deserve.
More than 500 seniors from the municipality participated in less than a year in an ambitious active aging project that we have been implementing for some time and in which we have put our efforts so that it has all kinds of activities exclusively aimed at and adapted to the group.
With this, we have not only wanted to reaffirm our commitment to the group and recognize their active role in society, but we have also been able to see the commitment and involvement of the seniors themselves, who have demonstrated with the great reception of the project the desire and ability they have to enjoy leisure, fun, and learning.
Cognitive stimulation, therapeutic exercises, gymnastics, computer science, or theater have been some of the activities that they have carried out every week in the centers of San Bartolomé and Playa Honda, a diverse proposal that I can assure you that we will replicate every year that is possible and that, as it cannot be otherwise, we must thank the monitors and all the staff who have turned to make it possible.
However, I cannot talk about management and the elderly without mentioning the great project of this Government, as expected as successful: the Family Respite Center. We knew that this was necessary to guarantee comprehensive care for older people with some degree of dependency and to offer real support to their caregiver families.
And we were not wrong. The Center saw the light in 2024 and, since its opening, it has served about two hundred people, reaching an average daily stay of 242 days. We can describe it as a great resource that we complement with home care in the homes of San Bartolomé, with aid for the provision of adapted beds for people with reduced mobility or who have a great need for care or actions framed in active aging such as healthy walks.
In short, we have opted for useful and effective social welfare policies, with very necessary investments to address problems such as unwanted loneliness or cognitive impairment that were highlighted after the pandemic and with a solidary and human commitment with which we want to thank and give back to our elders everything they have given us. And we will continue to do so, because in San Bartolomé we leave no one behind.
