Committed To Becoming More Age-Friendly
Ilustre Municipalidad de Palena Chile
In response to its aging population, the municipality of Palena created the Office for Older Adults to identify the needs of its elderly residents. The Office for Older Adults has been working with professionals to assist older adults in the community, both individually and in group settings, for two years now. In order to administer programs and resources, the Office for Older Adults works with organizations and departments at the central government level, including:
- Health Service, Municipal Health Department
- Ministry of Social Development
- SENAMA (National Service for Older People): Funding awarded to elderly groups to carry out self-managed projects
- SERNATUR: Senior holidays
- FOSIS: FNDR Entrepreneurship Program
In these programs, there are professionals that accompany older people, helping them to improve their quality of life through physical and social well-being and integration into the community. In addition, there is collaborative work with the hospital in Palena to arrange home visits to elderly in the municipality. Due to its geographic dispersion, many older adults live in isolated rural areas of Palena. It is important to include these rural sectors in the efforts to be an age-friendly city and the municipality is working to improve the delivery of benefits and services to older people across the entire community.