Red Cross Zamora promotes the care of the elderly through a new awareness campaign

• The new secretary general of the entity, José Carlos Vidal, and the provincial coordinator of the Red Cross Zamora Silvia Montalvo, have visited the subdelegate of the Government to make him participate in a new campaign that has the elderly as main protagonists • The activities around the campaign for the Good Treatment of Older People takes place in the different headquarters of the province and now also in the capital • Red Cross intends with this action to prevent unwanted loneliness and risk situations, in addition to creating networks of cooperation between neighbors and to contribute to sensitizing the society at a time in which more and more necessary cooperation

June 15, 2023.- “Treat me as you would like to be treated”, “Listen to me and learn from my experience”, “Don’t decide for me and respect my privacy”, “Don’t make me feel like a burden”. They are some of the phrases that lead this new solidarity action of the Red Cross that is developing with great success in the province and that now also reaches the capital.

The new provincial secretary of the entity José Carlos Vidal, and the provincial coordinator Silvia Montalvo, have held a meeting with the subdelegate of the Government to present the data of this activity that began to take place in the Region of Benavente with workshops of information, empowerment, training and psychological support and that is already applied in the capital waiting to arrive to Toro next month.

The fundamental objective of this new campaign is, according to the provincial coordinator of the Zamora Red Cross, Silvia Montalvo, “the sensitization of the population and the promotion of the culture of good treatment in order to identify the rights and freedoms of our elders and not incur in situations of abuse. We also spread messages for reflection and social awareness through workshops, informative sessions, permanent campaigns on social networks, distribution of large and pocket calendars or direct interventions in situations of risk caused by unwanted loneliness.”

The leaders of the Zamora Red Cross have highlighted the good coordination between the organization, the Prosecutor’s Office and the State Security Forces. It is, according to Silvia Montalvo, the only way to prevent undesirable consequences in situations of extreme vulnerability: “There are more and more cases of single people, who suffer unwanted loneliness in depopulated areas, who are at extreme risk and that no organism is able to detect. That is why the collaboration of everyone is very important and that of the neighbors is fundamental”

The Red Cross conducts case detection work through its regional centers in Toro, Benavente, Sanabria and Fuenteaúco and through the visits of its workers. But it increasingly gives greater importance to actions to raise awareness and awareness of the environment: “Anyone can be the antenna that detects a situation in which an intervention is necessary so one of the points we work most in our workshops is community solidarity that has been lost due to our way of life”

In addition, it is about enhancing self-care: “We do workshops in memory, in crafts… it is very important that they leave home, that they relate, that they create bonds and that they can take care of each other. They are fully-fledged beings. They have the right to continue having a full life, to ask for help if they need it, to be informed of all the resources they have… In short, they have the right to feel empowered and not to have to endure an unwanted loneliness.

The Red Cross intends to further promote this campaign, which is receiving a particularly positive reception in Zamora. Those interested in learning more about its content or asking for help can go to any Red Cross headquarters in the province, they can send a message through the entity’s email or social networks or they can go directly to the Civil Guard in their area.