Denia aims to be a ‘pensionerfriendly town’
Local authority discovers what its retirees really think
DENIA council has launched a three-year action plan to improve quality of life for the over-65s.
Nearly one in five residents in the municipality is of retirement age or over, and the Marina Alta capital is seeking to be a ‘pensioner-friendly town’. This will enable it to join a World Health Organisation (WHO) network of the same name, which currently has over 800 member towns in 41 countries.
Kicking off the process last year, the local authority conducted a wide-ranging poll among residents aged over 65, who make up 19.2% of its headcount, along with clubs and societies, staff at the Santa Llúcia care home, local authority technicians in all departments, and researchers from the equality observatory at the Denia branch of Spain's open university, UNED.
According to the results, pensioners already feel respected, are pleased with the large scope of leisure activities and services available to their various age groups, welfare policies in place, and opportunities for taking part in local politics.
But they criticise town planning issues such as accessibility and public transport, noted mayor Vicent Grimalt.
Restrooms, fewer steps and better public transport
The three-year action plan since drafted takes into account their views on the lack of benches outside banks and at strategic intervals in heavilyused shopping streets for taking short rests, the poor state of pavements, and absence of public toilets – especially clean and well-maintained cubicles.
Access problems to buildings, such as low steps and wheelchair or trolley ramps, infrequent and unreliable public transport which does not reach their homes or link them to key destinations such as health centres and supermarkets, or buses with high steps and no ramps, plus long walks and fragmented routes between places they often need to visit, are other issues pensioners interviewed cited.
They also want to see a council-funded housing benefit scheme and greater awareness and training within the local authority on different types of accommodation for elderly or disabled residents, such as warden-assisted apartments, residential homes with selfcontained wings, communestyle complexes, and better facilities and resources for the Santa Llúcia centre.
Pensioner section on website
On the whole, the social, leisure and public participation side of Denia life was found to need little improvement, other than more schemes involving interaction between young and old, between Spanish and foreign nationals, volunteer projects
pensioners can get involved with and which help the elderly, and more information channels to keep them in the loop – including a specific helpdesk with tailored support for the over-65s and for all nationalities, and a special 'pensioner section' on the town hall website. The latter would include larger script and be easier to follow for the less technologically-literate, even the very elderly, the survey results say.
Healthcare could be better
A dedicated information and support office for pensioners, the elderly, Spaniards and foreigners, covering necessary bureaucracy and health service use was requested.
Those surveyed also called for better care for pensioners and elderly residents, such as getting appointments quicker – including last-minute ones – an intermediary service where they have difficulty understanding their medical situations, face-to-face GP visits, ongoing patient care systems, and specific training for healthcare professionals on middleaged and elderly patients' welfare.