ESS as an alternative to the traditional residential care model – Ateneo

In recent years, the care of the elderly and people with special needs has been one of the most questioned areas of the welfare system. The aging of the population, the precarious working conditions of the caregiver staff and the lack of community models have put into crisis the traditional residential care model.

In the face of this scenario, the Social and Solidarity Economy (ESS) proposes an alternative focused on dignity, proximity and participation. Cooperatives, Foundations and Associations have begun to create community care projects that break with care and institutionalizing logic. These are proposals that people put at the center, recognize their capabilities and promote more human, flexible and rooted environments in the territory.

Cooperative housing with services, care cooperatives or mutual support neighborhood networks are examples of this alternative look. In addition, these initiatives allow to recover the idea that taking care is not only a work of a minority, but a collective responsibility that must be assumed as a society.

The Ateneu Cooperativa del Baix Llobregat, through the Social Circle, accompanies initiatives that are committed to this new model. It offers spaces for reflection, technical support and connection with other projects, with the aim of strengthening a people -centered care ecosystem and managed with cooperative values.