The World Health Organization (WHO) and Imserso have awarded La Laguna recognition as a Friendly City for the Elderly, a distinction by which the town of Tenerife is part of a global network with more than a thousand members and which implies the Aguere’s commitment to the creation of services and public spaces capable of improving the day-to-day life of the elderly in their environment. The councilor for Social Welfare and acting mayor, Rubens Ascanio, reported yesterday all the details of this adhesion, which the municipality will develop through a multi-year action plan to promote healthy ageing, address the challenge of demographic aging and improve the quality of life of the approximately 40,200 people over the age of 60 who reside in the municipality, who represent almost a quarter of its population.
The mayor, who was accompanied by the coordinator of the City Council Senior Unit, Raquel Montesdeoca, and the vice president of the Permanent Commission of the Municipal Senior Council, Roberto Álvarez, explained the importance of having achieved the adhesion of the municipality to this initiative, launched by the WHO and coordinated in Spain through Imserso, with some 200 members in the State. An adherence for which the locality has been working for years and which supposes “a recognition of local policies and our commitment to municipal structures and services designed so that all people, regardless of their ages, abilities and abilities, can live in a healthy way, safe and actively participating in all spheres of social life”, pointed out Ascanio.
Thus, the councilor appreciated that “this is one of the great days of this mandate, a recognition that accompanies a change in the model in many aspects of our day-to-day life and that will contribute to making us a more inclusive and accessible municipality” . “To achieve this, we have involved the entire City Council, just as the life of the elderly takes place in all areas of the municipality, with the aim of improving the environments and services so that they facilitate active and healthy aging and participation in all spheres of social life”, he added.
Rubens Ascano explained that “being part of this Network will help us to be much more effective and efficient in the objectives that we have set for the coming years, extraordinary support and high social value that will be accompanied by a great change in the public policies aimed at improving the quality of life of the elderly, which we initiated in this mandate and which we accelerate in response to the consequences of the impact of the pandemic”.
The recognition of adherence states that, in addition to having taken the required steps, with the diagnosis, the preparation of the action plan and the monitoring indicators, La Laguna “develops policies, programs and services that improve the quality of life of its neighbors and , especially of those most vulnerable groups that, due to age, level of dependency, social problems or situation, require corrective measures to guarantee their well-being”.
And among the actions underway, it includes the programs of the Senior Unit, linked to the Social Welfare Area, for the revitalization of senior associations, with training, cultural or leisure activities to promote participation in social and community life; the creation of the Municipal Council for the Elderly, a body for advice, collaboration and participation in municipal affairs related to the elderly and with a broad representation of this group; the Home Help Service, or the Home Telecare and the municipal Day Stay Center for the Elderly, among other actions.
