Attention to the elderly is one of the main priorities of the country's leadership, for them, there are care and assistance options, both monetary and food, to offer them a healthy old age free of difficulties.
Las Tunas, Cuba - A total of 6,204 senior citizens are protected with monetary benefits from Social Assistance in the province, demonstrating the care that the Cuban State has for the elderly.
The Government of the Island takes care, in the first order, of the family, and the protection of the family as the fundamental cell of society, as expressed by Rachel Say Azán, deputy director of Prevention, Assistance and Social Work of the Provincial Directorate of Labor and Social Security in Las Tunas: "The socialist state thinks first of man as the fundamental entity of all its social policies to attend to him, we must be aware that it cannot cover the needs of each individual in particular."
In this way, he lets it be known that he thinks of man, but that he must also watch over the integrity of his own, and fundamentally of the elderly.
"The relatives are the main ones responsible for the care of the elderly, Rachel continues, and it is very painful to see how the children who have been cared for do not return this attention to their parents, and in most cases, we are not talking about the parent who never cared, but the one who did and for whom today they do not want to take responsibility."
This is a problem that is frequently seen in Cuban communities, and for the luck of many of these adults, the Family Code has its specifications regarding their rights.
"To raise awareness and get ahead of this type of situation, prevention groups were created at the People's Council level, which in recent times have been getting stronger, said Miguel González Velázquez, director of the entity."
"Several institutions are involved in these groups, such as the Provincial People's Court and the Prosecutor's Office, the mass organizations, who support us in carrying out family dynamics."
It is necessary to create awareness in the population about the importance of caring for this sensitive group of society. To look for creative alternatives for their care at home, such as taking them to grandparents' homes, to grandparents' circles.
"We must keep in mind that these are not vulnerable groups, Rachel points out, but that they become vulnerable because of a certain disability that prevents them from meeting their basic needs in terms of performing household chores and their own."
It is in the benefits provided to this age group that we realize how far we still have to go in today's Cuban society, where we see the elderly as a hindrance when they are people full of wisdom.
