The elderly are once again at the center of the public agenda as a result of a bill promoted by legislator Carlos Coggiola, aimed at creating a specialized office so that they are given priority and specialized and empathic care in the health system of the province of Neuquén.
In a context in which most shifts are taken by phone, Whatsapp and other digital applications, through which other procedures and administrative situations are also resolved, the initiative seeks to facilitate procedures for people of an age group that is not familiar with technology and that requires friendly and personalized treatment, according to their needs. The idea is also to give them priority in both administrative and health care, avoiding long waits and offering a series of listening, containment and assistance resources that make their medical consultation more pleasant, agile and safe.
“The bill essentially provides for the prioritization and improvement in the care of adults over 65 years of age in public hospitals and other health centers in the province. For this, a specialized office must be set up that will work in each health institution 24 hours a day. The idea is to provide personalized attention at a health and administrative level: if they have social work, advise them so they know how to access coverage or help them with all the documentation they have to present at the consultation,” Coggiola said in dialogue with LM Neuquén.
When asked about how the office will work in each health center, the legislator from the Christian Democracy party replied: “The details and the number of trained personnel are reserved for what is determined by the enforcement authority, which will be the Ministry of Health of the province. It must implement and supervise the activity of this office and establish a manual of procedures and protocols so that all health personnel are aware and trained to offer empathetic care to older adults. What we are proposing is that there is a specific place with trained and empathetic people to solve all the issues of an older adult,” he stressed.
“Many of them do not have a daily use of the internet, social networks or a computer or telephone to access shifts and knowledge of the requirements they must meet for medical care. What we are looking for is that they do not have to queue like everyone else. the world, waiting long hours to be served,” he remarked before mentioning some of the situations that motivated him to draft this bill.
“Although access to the corinavirus vaccine was initially made by ages, later it became common for everyone and there were situations with long queues. The guards of the hospitals I have ever been to made me see that they do not have a specific space where they can be treated. Just as there is a pediatric ward, for example, specifically for boys and girls, there should be another one for older adults. As there is no age distinction, many times in the wards they are not attended to properly. empathetic because there is a queue of 40 or 50 people. We think that we must preserve the elderly by giving them priority, as is the case in the Banco Provincia de Neuquén, go in that line, “he emphasized.
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The project entered the provincial Legislature through the entry table on March 29 with the signature of Coggiola, who explained that it will be dealt with in the next ordinary session, which will take place on Wednesday of this week. Then it will be debated in the Human Development, Constitutional Affairs and Finance commissions “because it undoubtedly foresees a budget.”
“What I intend is to put older adults on the agenda from the optimal health system of the province of Neuquén to generate debate. We will convene health authorities and personnel, all provincial agencies and social actors – such as retirement centers- that have to do with older adults. The idea is to trigger the debate, enrich it with the different contributions that can be made so that this or another regulation comes out of it that has as its axis a more empathetic and specific view of the older adult in the health system,” he concluded.