Celebrates three decades with more than 1,500 elderly people enrolled in some of the 75 groups of cognitive stimulation and social skills workshops distributed throughout Mallorca.

The IMAS autonomy promotion team celebrates 30 years

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‘Caring for an elderly person is a task of love’. With these words of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the president of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, has defined the work of the professionals who have been part of the service of promotion of autonomy for the elderly of the IMAS for the last 30 years. A team that today recalled its origins, analysed its history and reflected on future challenges in an event held at the Municipal Theatre of Alaró.

Under the name of Equipo de Vejez y Familia (EVIF), the service began its work in 1994 with the launch of the cognitive stimulation workshops in María de la Salud and Algaida. ‘When they started, there was nothing similar in Mallorca. There was no initiative that catered to the needs of the elderly without dependency, their families or caregivers of people with dependency. Today, 30 years later, and thanks to this team, they have a wide range of programmes. This year more than 1,500 people over the age of 60 have enrolled in one of the 75 groups distributed in different parts of the island,’ said Galmés.

‘They were the first to put mental health at the centre of attention when it was not even talked about’, said the president of IMAS and Minister of Social Welfare of the Consell de Mallorca, Guillermo Sánchez, who was proud ‘of what has become a public service of reference’, he said, who ‘from the first moment opted for decentralisation, to facilitate that all the elderly of Mallorca and their families, regardless of where they live, could benefit from its programmes’, he concluded.

The vice-president of IMAS, Magdalena García Gual; the mayor of Alaró, Llorenç Perelló; the insular director of Community Care and Promotion of Personal Autonomy of the Consell de Mallorca, Catalina Maria Mascaró, also attended the anniversary, in which the 12 professionals of the team that currently integrates the service of promotion of autonomy for the elderly, as well as participants and family members of its programmes and some of the promoters of this IMAS resource, participated.

‘Thirty years ago we created from scratch a service for the elderly and the relatives who care for them. Year after year, we have been able to maintain loyalty, but one of the best virtues of the team has been the ability to adapt, to not be excessively rigid. I think they have reached an exceptional point of maturity”, explained Bartomeu Barceló, one of the promoters of the project.