The Municipal Council for the Elderly of La Laguna yesterday held its first plenary session of the year, in which the program of activities for the first semester was agreed, the last details of the Action Plan for the inclusion of La Laguna in the network of Cities were discussed friendly for the elderly, as well as the Emblematic Women 2022 program or, among other issues, the creation of “homes for the elderly”. The plenary session included the mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez; the Councilor for Social Welfare, Rubens Ascanio, and representatives of the associations for the elderly in the municipality, among others.
As for these “homes for the elderly”, Rubens Ascanio explained that they will be “care spaces for the entire population over 55 years of age in the municipality who can go freely and where their needs for revitalization are met, with workshops, and elements that have to do with healthy leisure”, and in which it is “the City Council which, in collaboration with associations for the elderly, manages the space and enables it with all the needs in terms of Internet access, spaces for the practice of therapeutic activities, workshops or sports facilities”.
“The idea is in this 2022 to have the first space of these characteristics working”, which will be executed with municipal funds, added the mayor, who explained that it differs from day centers for the elderly in that these are “rather care spaces socio-sanitary” that attend to specific profiles, and for which the area will also continue betting on the remainder of the mandate.
Regarding the Action Plan for the inclusion of La Laguna in the network of Friendly Cities for the Elderly, the Social Welfare Area, in collaboration with the thirty elderly associations of the municipality and various departments, has been working on its drafting for months. to fully integrate La Laguna in this initiative of the World Health Organization.
Rubens Ascanio explained that this Action Plan, which will be presented in a few weeks, will entail “dozens of actions over the next few years, with cross-cutting interventions in the areas of outdoor spaces, buildings, transportation, social participation, respect and social inclusion, participation civic, employment, communication and information, as well as health and community support services”.
In the session, the main proposals for this new semester were also addressed. Thus, the calendar of training, leisure and health activities will be expanded this year with the incorporation of photography, theater and music therapy courses, in addition to workshops on information and communication technologies, painting, yoga or cognitive stimulation.
In addition, the memoir writing workshop Relatos de mi vida returns and the audiovisual initiative El Legado will be resumed. Likewise, it will increase the commitment of urban orchards for the elderly, with the creation of the one in Chocanino, in Finca España; the Batán elders’ memoir will be presented and the program Mujeres a la playa de verano will return.
Social Welfare will also present the first guide for caring for people who care and who need to be cared for and its first Municipal Plan for the Elderly.
