Gipuzkoa will have a pioneering residence that will house housing with care for 127 elderly people
- The project, located in Usurbil, is promoted by Matia, co-financed by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, and is expected to open by the end of 2022.
(Usurbil, February 4, 2022) By the end of 2022, the new residence that Matia is developing in Usurbil, in collaboration with the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and the Town Council of the town, will be up and running. It is a "pioneering and innovative" project, which began its construction in June 2020, and which will house 110 homes for 127 elderly people, "an example of where the model of care in Gipuzkoa is evolving", based on reduced living units that favor the autonomy and personalized attention of the residents. This was explained by the deputy general of Gipuzkoa, Markel Olano, during a visit this morning to the construction site of the new center, where he was accompanied by the deputy for Social Policies Maite Peña, the mayoress of Usurbil Agurtzane Solaberrieta, the president of the Board of Trustees of Matia Mari Carmen Garmendia, the general director of Matia Gerardo Amunarriz, and part of his team.
This new center recovers the concept of housing as a living space in any of its formulas, generating a home-like atmosphere. "Rooms are replaced by small dwellings with integrated care, in a connected environment, open to the community and where the person is placed at the center of all activity." Olano stressed that "people, their welfare, autonomy and quality of care are the central axis on which social policies in Gipuzkoa are based". He added that this project contributes to the transformation of the care model that has been developed in recent years in the territory, "from innovation, personalization and connection with the community", as well as in the collaboration between institutions and entities of the third social sector, one of the main features of the Gipuzkoa model of social policies.
The center will have a total of 127 places for dependent elderly people, in a total of 110 homes with integrated care, 93 of them individual and 17 doubles for couples or family members. In addition, the homes will be grouped into 7 cohabitation units, each consisting of 18 people. These are larger spaces, between 30 and 38 m2, and will have a small kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom, all of which can be customized and furnished by each resident, thus promoting a more homelike environment. The Usurbil center, in addition to the care homes, will have two psychogeriatric units, with 15 beds each, and a day center with 40 beds.
This is the first new construction project of its kind in the whole of Spain, "with a huge innovative approach", with a surface area of 12,017 m2 and requiring a total investment of 20.7 million euros, of which 6.4 million euros have been financed by the Provincial Council, through the collaboration agreement signed between the two entities (2.8), and European funds from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan managed by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa (3.6)
Ecosistema local de cuidados en Usurbil
Este nuevo centro estará ubicado en el núcleo urbano de Usurbil, en Kalezar Auzoa, y además de las viviendas y el centro de día, contará con servicios que estarán abiertos a toda la ciudadanía, una cafetería y una peluquería, y contará además con una plaza verde para el disfrute de todos los vecinos y vecinas de la zona.
El diputado general ha subrayado el carácter “innovador” de este proyecto, su poder de “tracción”, y su participación en el ecosistema local de cuidados que se está construyendo en el municipio de Usurbil, al igual que en otros municipios del territorio, como Pasaia, Azpeitia, Urretxu, Zestoa o Hernani. “En Gipuzkoa estamos desarrollando ecosistemas locales de cuidados en diferentes municipios, en el marco de Etorkizuna Eraikiz, y en coordinación con Adinberri, ayuntamientos y entidades sociales. Es una estrategia que busca profundizar en la prevención de la dependencia y la fragilidad, impulsando la autonomía personal y los cuidados de larga duración, y ofreciendo también apoyos a las personas cuidadoras”. El diputado general ha explicado que el futuro es conseguir aunar los cuidados con la comunidad y con la innovación social, creando así ecosistemas avanzados a nivel local, que puedan extenderse a nivel territorial.
En palabras de la alcaldesa, “en Usurbil estamos inmersos en la construcción de un nuevo ecosistema de cuidados, diseñando toda una estrategia”. Ha explicado que esta estrategia tiene como objetivo conformar un ecosistema local que garantice la sostenibilidad de los cuidados de larga duración, territorializado, enraizado en Usurbil, con base comunitaria, con vocación de colocar en el centro los deseos de las personas que requieren cuidados y, por tanto, muy orientado a los hogares. Solaberrieta ha destacado que esta reflexión se está haciendo de forma colectiva, que el ámbito del cuidado se ha mirado desde “un punto de vista integral” desde el principio, y que el proceso en marcha incluye todas las “miradas, aristas y vértices”.
