Getting older is one of those things we all know is coming, but most of us prefer not to think about too much.
Until suddenly you’re having conversations about mobility, care, loneliness and whether Mum or Dad is really OK living alone.
In La Laguna, the Aguere Day Centre is taking a slightly different approach to ageing. The idea isn’t simply to look after older people during the day. It’s to keep them active, involved and feeling like themselves.
Which, when you think about it, shouldn’t be a particularly revolutionary idea.
More than somewhere to spend the day
Day centres are becoming increasingly important as the population gets older and families try to balance work, home life and caring for elderly relatives.
Loneliness can be a huge problem too.
María, the director of Aguere Day Centre, puts it simply:
“Loneliness is the silent pandemic among our elders. Our goal isn’t just to care for them, but to create a space where they can continue to develop as individuals, where they feel heard, valued and accompanied.”
That’s really the point.
People don’t suddenly stop being people because they reach a certain age. They still have interests, opinions, routines and a need to feel useful.
A good day centre recognises that.
Taking some pressure off families too
For many families, asking for help can come with a fair bit of guilt.
Esther, whose father attends Aguere, admitted she initially felt as though she was somehow failing him.
But the reality was quite different.
While she was working, she simply couldn’t provide the social interaction and activities he needed during the day. The centre gave him somewhere safe, but more importantly, somewhere he could spend time with other people.
That’s a situation plenty of families in Tenerife and the Canary Islands will recognise.
A day centre isn’t about handing responsibility over to someone else. It can give older people more social contact and stimulation, while allowing families to get on with work and everyday life without constantly worrying about what’s happening at home.
Keeping active for as long as possible
The approach at Aguere is based around personalised care rather than treating everyone the same.
There are cognitive activities, adapted physical exercise and opportunities to socialise.
The aim is to help people stay physically, mentally and socially active for as long as possible.
As María explains, keeping people active can help delay dependency and deterioration. Ageing doesn’t have to mean that everything gradually gets taken away from you.
Sometimes it just means adapting.
And there’s quite a big difference.
Walk into the centre and you might find one group working on memory exercises while others are doing physical activities. There’s conversation, laughter and the sort of background noise that tells you people are actually enjoying being around each other.
Not exactly the image many people still have when they hear the words “day centre”.
A different way of looking at ageing
There’s a tendency to see ageing as a period of decline.
But centres like Aguere are trying to challenge that idea.
Growing older brings challenges, obviously. Nobody is pretending otherwise. But staying connected, active and involved can make a huge difference to someone’s quality of life.
And for families, knowing that a parent or relative isn’t spending the entire day alone staring at the television can bring a bit of peace of mind too.
Sometimes support isn’t about doing everything for someone.
Sometimes it’s about giving them the opportunity to keep doing as much as they can for themselves.
Aguere Day Centre
Address: C/ Pintor Cristino de Vera, 20, San Cristóbal de La Laguna
Telephone: 922 10 50 41
Email: aguere@formasnivaria.es