Volunteers with disabilities support elderly people in a nursing home in Ávila
Every fortnight, Adrián and Daniel, two young men with intellectual disabilities, volunteer at a nursing home in Ávila to spend the afternoon with Luisa and Luciano, two elderly people who are single and have no close family.
They do so thanks to the support of Respirávila and its programme ‘Yo también hago voluntariado’, selected in the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation's Castilla y León 2024 Social Projects Call for Proposals. Coinciding with International Day of Persons with Disabilities, their story invites us to change our perspective: to move from seeing people with disabilities as mere recipients of help to recognising them as citizens with full rights and the ability to assist others.
Adrián loves how footballers Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé play. ‘I'm a Real Madrid fan, but it costs a lot of money to go to the stadium,’ he confesses. He is 24 years old and lives with his parents. Daniel is the same age, but he prefers rugby and walks around the walled city. He knows it like the back of his hand. Luisa, who will soon turn 70, is more into dominoes and sitting on a terrace having a drink. And Luciano, who is in his nineties and used to be a taxi driver and farm worker, remains loyal to bullfighting and Real Ávila Football Club.
The four of them meet every other Wednesday at the same place, the nursing home in the capital of Ávila, which is run by the Regional Government of Castile and León. Adrián Casado and Daniel García work as volunteers and their job is to accompany Luisa and Luciano. They also make sure they have a good time.
So far, this is a story that is repeated in many towns and cities. What sets it apart from others is that Adrián and Daniel are people with intellectual disabilities who have decided to devote part of their time to improving the well-being of Luisa and Luciano. So that loneliness does not rule their daily lives.
'We always see people with intellectual disabilities as recipients of help and not as people who can help. That's why the most important thing about this project is the change in perspective. That change occurs in the volunteers' families, in the community and in the volunteers themselves. As volunteers, they improve their self-esteem, do something valuable, feel useful and establish relationships with a group they belong to. And families see their children as more capable, more responsible and more independent,‘ explains Elena Unquiles Cobos, inclusive leisure coordinator at Respirávila, a non-profit association that provides respite and rest for families, and promoter of the 2024 initiative ’Yo también hago voluntariado'.
This project is supported by the Social Projects Calls for Proposals of the 'la Caixa' Foundation, which since its inception in 1999 has promoted more than 23,500 projects throughout the country, reaching more than 10 million beneficiaries.
The project has been running for three years and is made up of 16 volunteers, in addition to the association's technical team and five personal assistants who attend to the individual needs of the volunteers, helping them to carry out a task that promotes their autonomy and enhances their abilities.
With the slogan ‘We all have something valuable to contribute’, the volunteers, aged between 18 and 40, not only accompany elderly people suffering from loneliness, but also volunteer at animal shelters, food banks, charity races, charity markets and sports organisations.
‘They sign up, we do an intake interview to find out what their interests and availability are, and what motivates them. Then they choose the activity. It's been so successful that we have a waiting list,’ says Elena.
Against loneliness and because we are all valuable
Luisa is about to leave her room. She is single, in a wheelchair, has cognitive impairment, and the few relatives she has live far away. Her nails are freshly painted, and as soon as she sees Adrián, she gives him a loving gesture. Adrián is impatient; when he sees her, he takes her hand and gives her a few kisses and hugs.
‘Luisa is an elderly lady who has trouble moving around and leaving the residence. I usually put her jacket on, then I paint her lips and we go for a walk, to buy lottery tickets or have a drink. She likes to have a beer, I like a sugar-free cola and Yolanda likes a regular soft drink,’ says Adrián without letting go of her.
Yolanda Susan is the assistant who accompanies Adrián in his volunteer work. She is the one who knows them both best. Her role is to support Adrián during the two hours he volunteers with Luisa, making sure they both feel comfortable. 'Adrián is a very attentive boy, he is attentive to Luisa's needs and has learned to handle the wheelchair very well. He's the king of getting up and down kerbs!'
Today it's cold in Ávila, so they go to the residence's café. Adrián takes some jelly beans, chocolate biscuits, a can of soft drink and a bottle of water out of the vending machine, and they start playing dominoes. He keeps a close eye on Luisa and she repays him with knowing glances. He hardly speaks.
‘The role of assistants like Yolanda is essential. The programme would not have been so successful without her mediation between the volunteers and the organisation. They provide support and assistance. In the case of Adrián and Daniel, they perform more of an accompanying role, but there are people, for example, who have a visual impairment and who need more help from the assistants when they volunteer,’ explains Elena.
For Adrián, the choice to care for elderly people in the nursing home for his volunteering was easy. He is used to spending quality time with his grandmothers. Every weekend he travels to Villoslada de la Trinidad, a 45-minute drive from Ávila, to see them. He helps them in the garden and goes for walks with them, as he also does with Luisa in the nursing home.
Well-being for both parties
'The benefit is mutual. Volunteers combat the loneliness of the elderly because the day they go to the nursing home is a different afternoon in their routines. But loneliness does not only affect the elderly. There are many people with intellectual disabilities for whom these activities are also the best antidote to their own loneliness. They have their families and the environment of social organisations, but outside of these, they have no networks of friends. They find it difficult to participate socially, they don't know what resources are available, they don't know how to access them, and this volunteering gives them other opportunities,‘ says Elena.
Daniel and Luciano, a 90-year-old gentleman who is also single, are coming down the corridor. ’Daniel is a very nice guy. He comes here and we go out together, and he tells me lots of things.The other day we were at the football ground watching Real Ávila play Numancia. It was so cold...!' says Luciano. Both say they had a great time, although they disagree on the result. In the end, it was a goalless draw.
Daniel works Monday to Saturday in a well-known supermarket in Ávila and at weekends in a gardening company. He is a determined young man: ‘The volunteer programme has helped me to disconnect from work and make new friends.’ As with Luisa and Adrián, today is not a day to go out, so he accompanies Luciano to the TV room to see if there is a bullfight on. If not, they play Parcheesi or cards.
As with Daniel and Adrián, many other people with intellectual disabilities are also considering volunteering through Respirávila. ‘Not only do they want to help other people, they also want more independence and for their parents to understand that,’ admits Elena Unquiles. She still remembers when Adrián couldn't go out alone in the city. ‘For some time now, he has been going from his home to the residence on his own and has shown his family and himself that he is capable of that and much more.’
