For Maria Ramos, Rosa Fernandes and Maria João, days have never been the same since they started participating in the activities of the 360º Algarve Mental Health Project. In these women, all over 70 years old, the joy of living, the desire to socialize and, above all, the love of learning shines through.
It's Wednesday afternoon and, around 15pm, everything is ready to start the second activity of the day – a cognitive stimulation session.
It is at Espaço Saúde em Dialogue, in Faro, that Maria Ramos, Rosa Fernandes and Maria João meet with many other ladies, some who have even become friends.
Maria Ramos is 80 years old and is one of the oldest regulars at Espaço Diálogo.
«I was at the Senior University and when I found out that they were going to start this project, in 2020, I immediately wanted to participate. This place is very important because here we can clarify all our doubts, avoid queues at the hospital, and we can also unwind on days when “your leg hurts or your arm hurts”», he says.
“I've worked all my life and now this is very good because if I had closed myself at home I would have already died”, he says.
This project was born for exactly that, to give more life and joy to the elderly.
« Saúde Mental 360º Algarve comes as a result of another initiative, which developed health literacy and ended in June 2023. In the meantime, we made an application to the Belmiro de Azevedo Foundation, as part of another project for the elderly (our population is people over 65 years old), but that worked not only on health literacy, which was the main purpose of the previous 360º Algarve, but that it also focused on the mental health of people in old age», he explains to Sul Informação Ricardo Valente Santos, psychologist and manager of the Saúde Mental 360º Algarve project.
According to the psychologist, the pandemic made evident the need for this population for more specific monitoring at this level. «We already had psychological services, but we realized that this was simply not enough and more activities were needed».
The services were joined by cognitive stimulation and promotion of socio-emotional skills sessions, nutrition workshops, yoga and adapted physical activity.
According to Ricardo Valente Santos, the project “has been a success”, with there being places where the activities bring together almost 30 people.
«I think the main benefit is to help improve the lives of the elderly and, at the same time, work on health literacy, not only physical but also mental», he assumes, stressing that, at the end of November, the Health project Mental 360º Algarve was already in the municipalities of Faro, Olhão and Loulé, with 113 activities developed and 120 users.
Rosa Fernandes, 77 years old, has also participated in the activities since the beginning and says she enjoys them all.
“I have a lot of fun and I feel better. I've already made many friends and the teachers are also extraordinary», he tells our newspaper, as he prepares the paper and pen to begin the cognitive stimulation exercise.
That Wednesday the afternoon activity was Rosa's second. In the morning she had gone to yoga.
«I do activities here that I never thought I would do. This space is very important and very good, I’m very happy to be here,” she confesses.
Maria João, 75 years old, found out about the project through a friend.
«I started participating and now I think it's essential, I just don't come when I can't because I really enjoy interacting with people», he says.
Ricardo says that, in the beginning, it was necessary to look for elderly people to participate in the activities, but now «putting words together makes a lot of difference».
As part of the visit by the President of the Order of Pharmacists to Espaço Saúde em Diálogo, on the 28th and 29th of November last year – where an assessment was made of the “Health Literacy” project – Jaime Melancia, president of the board of directors of Plataforma Saúde em Diálogo, also highlighted the “potential” of these projects, developed in partnership with local authorities, «to reach a population that often does not even know how to improve their health».
If there is funding, Jaime Melancia believes that the ideal would be to combine the “Health Literacy” project with the Mental Health project and others that may arise.
The person responsible also highlighted the fact that the Algarve is the only region in the country with «a space with these projects and this dynamic» and congratulated the professionals for the work they have developed.
The objective is that this project can reach more municipalities in the Algarve, more elderly people and, who knows, that it can serve as an example so that it can be replicated in other areas of the country.
The Mental Health Project 360º algarve, promoted by Plataforma Saúde em Diálogo and financed by the Belmiro de Azevedo Foundation, it runs until February 2025.
This initiative aims to promote the mental health of the vulnerable Algarve elderly community, through activities that promote healthy aging with a focus on the mental health of those involved, through a prevention and early intervention program focusing on depression, cognitive decline and suicide prevention.
The project will be aimed at evaluating the impact of the intervention on the quality of life and mental well-being of each participant (assessment carried out by the National School of Public Health), through an integrated and citizen-centered approach, based on local partnerships and collaborations, such as: municipalities, parishes, health units, IPSS, patient associations, and other public and private entities in the social and health area.
Photos: Cátia Rodrigues | Sul Informação
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