In 2022, the popular initiative Hernani Burujabe launched the “Auzozaintza” program. The initiative was launched with the aim of helping elderly people who find themselves in a situation of “fragile, unchosen loneliness” and has already been extended to several neighborhoods in Hernani. The mayor, Xabier Lertxundi, has pointed out that the main objective of “auzozaintza” is “to watch over the autonomy and quality of life of the users and their promotion”, and this is what the City Council has been working on for the last two years. There are 237 users in the program, mostly women, and the mayor has positively assessed the progress made to date. Precisely, a group of researchers from the UPV/EHU has recently analyzed the impact of the project on the health of the users and the results of the research were presented last June 6 at the Hernani Town Hall. The study points out that the health of the users of “Auzozaintza” has been clearly “improved” since their enrollment until now.
Amaia Maquibar, one of the researchers who participated in the presentation, assured that the feeling of loneliness has been reduced thanks to the program, which has led to an improvement in the mental health of the users. The research team has shown that the program influences not only mental health but also physical health. “The number of visits by these people to primary care clinics has been considerably reduced,” explains Maquibar. This is the data that the mayor has highlighted: “Look, there is a user who at the beginning of the program went out with a cane in the street and now he leaves it at home forgotten. This shows that Auzozaintza also influences physical health”.
To measure the impact of the program, the research team has conducted group interviews with the participants, in which, in Maquibar’s words, they assure that the quality of their mental and physical health has improved: “Through the interviews conducted we have seen that the users feel that participation in Auzozaintza has changed their lives and, in addition, their relatives, doctors and primary care specialists confirm this”.
Care and caregivers
At the presentation, Oihane Zabaleta, Director of Social Services, explained that the Auzozaintza program is based on the analysis of long-term care: “Promoting quality care to address the lack of functional autonomy, dependence and loneliness, recognizing the dignity of care and putting the caregiver’s living and working conditions at the center are the working tools of the program”. Zabaleta also stressed the “public community” nature of the project, and believes that it would be “very difficult” to respond “to complex problems such as loneliness” solely from the healthcare system or the social service. “This is where the community character of the program becomes important, which requires flexibility to adapt at the local level and cross-sector collaboration.” Although they started with the program from scratch, Fini Rubio from San Sebastian planted the first seed to carry out the project. In fact, before she died, Rubio gave part of her inheritance to four municipalities in Gipuzkoa: Andoain, Errenteria, Hernani and Pasaia. “He left written in his will that with that inheritance we had to do something to help the elderly in a situation of loneliness,” said the mayoress. The result of this is the Neighborhood program. “For the Hernani City Council it is good to know that we are responding to what she wanted”.
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