ganando (gaining)
snapshots from Chile
These snapshots come from a focus group I ran at El Centro Diurno para El Adulto Mayor (Adult Day Center), which offered interdisciplinary social and medical services for those aging with the least social support in Temuco. The center was designed especially to tackle health issues stemming from loneliness.
| 3 of 3-part series on this center |
A long-time attendee, 94 years old, who at first came for physical therapy, but stays for the close-knit community, which he calls a privilege and need.
In the United States, are older adults regarded with special importance?Are they valued in agreement with their abilities?
Do older adults have more opportunities than we do here? Does an older adult have the possibility to lead a useful life?
Relatively new to the center, this Temuco resident, 78 years old, applied for the center after a friend told him he’d be eligible based on his income.
At this age, at the national level, at the world level, [centers like this] are so necessary. Because each day all countries [populations] become older and older. It’s necessary what you’re seeing here.
Because the older adult [is told] ‘You were useful, but now you’re not useful. Now, older adults are gaining more value.
Mother, grandmother, and more, 75 years old, who struggles with diabetes. After feeling like a burden on her children, she’s gained independence.
[Older adults are forgotten] because you were head of the household, then the grandparent, and then erased. [Stuck in] a corner one would say. More like a piece of furniture, or a chair. We can still do many things.
None of us are healthy— healthy, healthy. We all have some problem, which is why we’re here. If [our kids] want to go out, they have to be more worried about us… so they enjoy it less. And now, no, because we’ve also been taught how to be independent.
[Young visitors and staff] are teaching us things that before, were unthinkable for us in our time. But they tell us that they’re also learning from us. They teach us, and we teach them.
Photos taken by Grace Ellrodt with subjects’ consent.