Seniors want to live at home or, if that’s not possible, as at home. This is the conclusion reached by the population studies on quality of life that are carried out, and it is also the challenge to which, in Gipuzkoa, the Regional Council, the Matia Foundation and councils such as Usurbil have sought to respond. This municipality of 6,200 inhabitants is trying a small revolution in the field of care that, on the one hand, is generating a whole ecosystem of care that involves the whole municipality and, on the other hand, is setting in motion the type of endowments that can allow its users to live as if they were at home. The Egurtzegi center is an example, a residence that replaces cold rooms with small apartments. This pioneering and innovative model is largely in line with a perspective that will extend beyond Gipuzkoa, thanks to the commitment made between the Ministry of Social Rights and the autonomous communities to promote a new model of residences for the elderly.
Egurtzegi’s new residential model, which looks at the Nordic countries, exemplifies what residences should look like in the coming years and sets a precedent that will hardly allow going back. The center offers 110 accommodations for 127 people, in public spaces arranged with the Administration, with small single or double apartments.
“It is the result of many years of research, knowledge acquired on the concept of good care and application of knowledge. The people who live in Egurtzegi don’t have a room, they have a home, located inside what we call a coexistence unit. These people will live in their own home, which maximizes people’s privacy environments compared to traditional residences, but at the same time there are spaces for sharing. The center allows you to bring life to the home, but also outside: in the center itself and in Usurbil, which is building an ecosystem of care”, explains Erkuden Aldaz, researcher and co-director of the Matia Institute, dependent on the Matia Foundation, non-profit organization with 140 years of history.
Its residents have started occupying their new home this week, which has a living room, bedroom, a small kitchen and an adapted bathroom. The center also adds common spaces intended for people who need special care and adds services such as a day center, a hairdresser or a café with a terrace.
Egurtzegi, in any case, is not an exclusive center aimed at those who can afford it. On the contrary, it is subject to the same residence decree as the rest of the centers in Gipuzkoa and both access and public prices, linked to the socio-economic profile of the claimants, operate according to the same parameters, set by the Provincial Council. The aim is for it to be, basically, the model that the residences that offer public spaces in the future try to imitate.
As important as the center itself, however, is the context that surrounds it. This endowment is part of a paradigm shift that is being tested in 12 municipalities in Gipuzkoa. Through the Zaintza HerriLab strategy, promoted by the Provincial Council, these localities are developing what they call “local ecosystems of care”. The concept may seem high-sounding, but the truth is that it results in a radical change in the way we approach the care of the elderly.
Usurbil is one of the municipalities that is most involved in this transformation, and Maider Irisarri, a social worker, is in charge of implementing the local care ecosystem.
“The extension of life expectancy and, in general, the aging of the population have brought us to a point where neither families alone nor public institutions on their own can manage care, which today is of a long duration . It requires collaboration between agents, coordination of resources, community involvement and, ultimately, changing an outdated care model,” he says.
The new care model that is emerging in Usurbil and other municipalities is the result of a thorough participation process in which it has been essential to listen to the people who need care and their relatives. From here, the municipality is working on an avalanche of dynamics and initiatives that want to centralize knowledge about the needs of each elderly person, form groups of volunteers to accompany grandparents and combat loneliness, improve the coordination of services and socio-health resources or promote dynamics of participation with the local associative fabric.
The aim is for care to occupy a central and transversal space. At the end of the village festivities, the inclusion of the elderly has been boldly sought, and for some years intergenerational activities have been promoted that regularly bring together schoolchildren and the elderly. In December, the municipality will inaugurate an intergenerational housing building where 5 elderly people and 11 young people will live in independent apartments, but with common areas, creating a network that serves to combat loneliness and connect with the rest of the dynamics implemented in the municipality.
The Matia Foundation is participating in this creation of ecosystems that extends throughout Gipuzkoa, and Erkuden Aldaz considers that this path “has no turning back”: “The Egurtze residence is an innovative resource, but it needs the community to active It is a total change of model that should guide the future and allow us to continue learning and innovating. It is a model that, adapted to each town or neighborhood, is fully exportable. At this point, it would be unforgivable to repeat what has been done for the last 30 years”.
