The exceptional health emergency situation caused by Covid-19 has forced many care services for the elderly to adapt to the new circumstances to continue offering care and at the same time follow the instructions and recommendations of the health authorities.
In this context, El Mil·lenari Day Centre, in Barcelona, and Can Vargas Day Centre in Ripollet, run by the Generalitat de Catalunya and managed by Suara, have reinvented themselves to be close to people cared for and families, substituting care in the centers for personalized actions at home.
Thanks to the commitment and dedication of the professionals, it has been possible to follow up, avoiding their isolation with the actions, aware that confinement further worsens the feeling of loneliness and cognitive and motor impairment. In fact, the initiative has been very well received and the results of the last few days support it.
The care consists of making visits of up to two hours and with the frequency of one to three days a week, depending on the situation of vulnerability. The professionals who visit the home organize together with the users activities that are agreed upon prior to the visit and taking into account the needs and motivations. Social gatherings, listening to music, looking at photographs, playing board games, going for a walk and meeting other people from the neighborhood or even from the centre itself, are some of the activities carried out.
Both centers, El Mil·lenari and Can Vargas, value the experience as "very enriching", since it offers benefits for all parties involved: the people attended feel accompanied and listened to, families can have moments of rest and professionals can approach the reality of the person from respect and gratitude for a shared life.
