Head start with helping hand for the elderly
PIONEERING programme ‘Radars’ has given Javea social services a head start in tackling problems arising for elderly people in the current health crisis.
Launched at the end of 2017; the community project was designed to reduce loneliness and the risk of isolation for older residents living alone and without family support.
The successful network, unique within the Valencia region when it was first started, gave the town hall’s department of social services “some advantage” in the coronavirus emergency and the quarantine measures.
A spokesman said: “The work of detecting these vulnerable elderly people was done; Radars works with a network including the local police, the health centre and the Red Cross - in addition to the warnings received at a private level.”
Currently there are 50 people receiving help under the Radars banner; the support has been stepped up since the beginning of the emergency measures - everyone receives a phone call at least three times a week.
And because the elderly are seen as particularly at risk from Covid-19 and advised not to leave home, the programme has seen shopping and medicines delivered and home help stepped up. One pensioner has been taken to the town hall’s emergency accommodation.
“Every day we are giving more support to these residents so they do not have to leave their homes and in coordination with the health centre, in case new cases in need of help are identified,” said one of the organisers.
Radars was first launched because of the numbers of pensioners living in the town, Javea’s geography posed another challenge because the population is scattered over a large area - while a particular problem were numbers of elderly people in an international population who do not speak Spanish.
Anyone who knows someone needing support is asked to inform them about Radars and ask them to call - or contact the programme on their behalf. Call Javea social services on 96 579 4142 or the Red Cross on 96 579 1961, or email radarseniors@xabia.es.