The initiative, promoted to alleviate the effects of unwanted loneliness, allows almost half of the cases to be referred to a Social Welfare program
Benidorm provides support to 250 local seniors at risk of isolation through the Brújula Project
The City Council will create a map to expand the network of collaborating establishments and make them easily identifiable
Benidorm City Council has provided support to 250 senior citizens at risk of isolation through the Compass Project, a community prevention program implemented by the Department of Social Welfare to identify cases of vulnerable senior citizens or those at risk of exclusion, most often due to unwanted loneliness. The Councillor for the department, Ángela Zaragozí, stated that "since this program was launched, we have been able to identify and care for 250 people, half of whom have been referred to other Social Welfare programs to improve their situation, well-being, or quality of life, something that is extremely important to us."
The Brújula Project is an initiative launched by Benidorm City Council in 2018 to identify cases of senior citizens living in unwanted loneliness and prevent situations of isolation that can seriously affect their well-being and quality of life. To make this possible, the project relies on a network of volunteers and collaborators, including health centres, pharmacies, banks, organisations like the Red Cross and Cáritas, as well as traditional neighbourhood businesses. The project's operational guidelines dictate that if a possible case is suspected, it must be reported to the City Council, whose technicians will travel to the person's home to conduct an assessment and advise them of the possible services available.
Angela Zaragozí explained that there are currently 8,629 people over 75 registered in Benidorm, of whom just over half—around 4,500—live alone, according to data available to the City Council. The councilor recalled that, when this community prevention project was launched, "the number of registered residents over 75 years of age in Benidorm was 4,967, so it has practically doubled in just seven years, making projects like the 'Brújula' project even more necessary to be able to act and alleviate, as much as possible, the negative effects of this unwanted loneliness."
"More and more older people are living alone or isolated, especially after the loss of a partner, who have a weak family network, who suffer from an illness that makes them dependent, or who are facing financial hardship." Hence, "given the challenge of ensuring their safety and well-being, it was decided to launch this project, in conjunction with the neighborhood's resources and community, to prevent this situation of isolation and make available to these people all the services offered or managed by the Department of Social Welfare," such as telecare, home care, day centers, and programs like 'Majors a Casa' and 'Menjars a Casa'.
In this regard, she pointed out that "prevention is key" to avoid "these cases reaching us at a very advanced stage or when the only possible solution is admission to a nursing home or hospital" and that "with this Compass Project, the aim is to act when the person still has a certain degree of autonomy to live alone, making resources and services available to them" such as those mentioned above.
Finally, the councillor announced that the City Council "wants to expand the network of volunteers and collaborators to reach the largest number of cases possible" and, in turn, "make this Compass Project even more widely known among the population." To this end, a meeting was held on July 4th with more than fifty social agents and organisations in the city, who were presented with all the work and services that the City Council provides to the elderly.
Furthermore, the first map of collaborating establishments is being developed, which will be labelled to enable the population to easily identify them. For this reason, Ángela Zaragozí has invited associations, businesses and companies to join and collaborate with this initiative by sending an email to proyectobrujula@benidorm.org.
Commitment to Older Adults
The Compass Project is one of the many programs offered by Benidorm City Council as part of a cross-cutting initiative, encompassing various departments, and aimed at improving the quality of life for seniors. Not surprisingly, during the last edition of the International Tourism Fair, Fitur, the city was recognised by AENOR as the first destination certified for its Commitment to Seniors, bringing all its services closer to seniors so they are not left behind, through numerous commitments that are a reality and attest to Benidorm's inclusive nature.
