The councillor Guillermo Sánchez insisted during the plenary session of this body on the need to work ‘with and for the elderly’ of Mallorca to guarantee their wellbeing and avoid their lack of protection or discrimination.

TDB keeps you informed. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

The IMAS Observatory for the Elderly

The Conseller de Benestar Social del Consell de Mallorca and president of the Institut Mallorquí d’Afers Socials (IMAS) Guillermo Sánchez, chaired the first ordinary plenary session of the Observatorio de las Personas Mayores de Mallorca (OMM) of this legislature with the aim of giving the final push to the implementation of the model of comprehensive care focused on the person (AICP), as well as to prevent situations of abuse or discrimination on the grounds of age. The island’s directors of Community Care, Rosa Llobera, and of Community Care and Promotion of Personal Autonomy, Catalina Maria Mascaró, also attended this plenary session, along with professionals, representatives of the Consell’s political groups, and those responsible for the elderly on the island.

During his speech, the councillor stressed that ‘we have to work with and for the elderly people of Mallorca. That is why we need to listen to them, empathise with them and understand their needs in order to be able to offer them the services and resources they need and that best suit their philosophy of life’ and he added that ’at the same time, we need to be alert to any situation or warning that could alert us to a possible situation of lack of protection. Thanks to the involvement of all the professionals and entities that are here today, we will be able to move forward together towards a model of care that guarantees the well-being and quality of life of all the elderly people of Mallorca’.

It should be remembered that in November the new IMAS team reaffirmed its commitment to continue this space for debate and analysis, which is essential to respond to the challenges posed by ageing. During this year 2024, the Observatory has three working commissions on the model of comprehensive care centred on the person (AICP), the detection and prevention of mistreatment, and the promotion of autonomy.

All the commissions agree that training is key to achieving the objectives: ‘It is important to ensure that professionals internalise the routine of the AICP model and therefore it is essential to promote mandatory training when they start working at IMAS, but also that this training is extended to professional training courses related to geriatrics’, explained Santi Ramis, current director of the Huialfàs residence of IMAS and expert of the Commission on AICP.

The plenary session was used to present the data of the pilot project that the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) has done precisely in this IMAS residence in Sa Pobla on Diagnosis and intervention on ageism in Mallorca to ensure the dignified treatment of the elderly and avoid situations of ageism.

In addition, during the session it was approved to launch two lines of research proposed by the Commission for the Detection and Prevention of Abuse to analyse, on the one hand, the professional needs of social services in the activation against abuse and, on the other hand, the detection and prevalence of this phenomenon among the elderly in Mallorca.

Finally, the president of IMAS, within the framework of the Commission for the Promotion of Autonomy, stressed the importance of promoting universal accessibility for all elderly people, starting by ‘launching an investigation to determine the necessary training for caregivers when caring for the visually impaired’.

Ten years ago, the IMAS created this Observatory for the Elderly to analyse the reality and the psychosocial and economic needs of the elderly in Mallorca from the perspective of different professionals and those responsible for the field, in order to design proposals for improvement for the different administrations and entities that work with this group.