SENDIAN

Sendian began as an experimental programme in Guipúzcoa in 1996.

The aim of the “Sendian” family support programme is to provide aid to families caring for an older dependent adult and enable them to avoid ruptures to family routine, ensure a harmonious domestic life and care for the older adult.

The “Sendian” programme comprises the following resources:

1. a) Training courses. These consist of theoretical and practical sessions which show participants how to provide better care for the elderly and also provide them with the knowledge to perform their work as carers. Areas covered include health, nursing, psychogeriatrics, psychology, legal matters and social benefits. The courses aim to provide information, education and therapy.

1. b) Support groups. These groups enable people suffering from the same problem to support one another; they also enable them to create their own resources through problem solving. They provide a forum where people can express themselves, communicate with one another and participate. The groups are directed by staff qualified in teaching crisis skills and conflict resolution as well as exoneration processes.

Support Group Numbers:

1. c) Psychological support. Carers and families living with a dependent older adult or caring for one may on occasions experience serious psychological difficulties or the deterioration of relationships within the family or outside of it; the programme provides individual psychological support for those needing specialized attention to deal with situations such as these. The programme allows for a maximum of ten sessions which may be extended to twelve in special cases.

Number of Cases:

1. d) Weekend and public holiday accommodation. The programme offers accommodation for a maximum of five days a month for dependent older adults. This provides carer families with a regular break from their tasks and also ensures the quality of the care received by the dependent older adult.

1. e) Weekend and public holiday day centres. The programme runs day centres for dependent older adults to provide carer families with a respite. The centres provide an environment adapted to the daily needs of dependent older adults. Those who already attend day centres on weekdays have restricted access to this resource.

This programme has been selected as a best practice for a variety of reasons:

-The programme has been running for over twenty years. It began on an experimental basis and has become a point of reference for families caring for dependent older adults in Guipúzcoa.

– A considerable number of people have benefited from the programme. Over the more than two decades that it has been running the Sendian programme has been growing constantly. In the previous year alone, it provided 215 people with training, almost 160 with psychological support, 337 participated in the support groups and a total of 445 benefited from the weekend and short stays.

-The programme offers across the board attention. It meets all sorts of needs that families caring for a dependent older adult may have: training, psychological treatment, support groups and relief accommodation.