La Fundación Santa María la Real, through its Employment and Social Inclusion Area, has launched the “Red Salvia” program in 2025, a European initiative that begins in 2025 with the aim of improving the social well-being of people over 65 in vulnerable situation. The main objective is to improve their quality of life and active ageing, as well as to prevent situations of isolation or unwanted loneliness.

Its first ‘Active Support Team’ was developed in the Community of Madrid, involving 16 elderly people living in municipalities that are part of the Las Cañadas Social Services Association, thus reaching not only large cities in Spain but also rural areas, where it is particularly important to promote active ageing.

“Red Salvia-Innovation for improving the quality of life of older people” is promoted by Fundación Santa María la Real, with co-financing from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), under the Operational Program for Social Inclusion and Social Economy, in its Priority Axis 6, as a social innovation project. It has the collaboration of different public administrations throughout the program.

The voice of its participants 

“Red Salvia has helped me gain confidence in using my cell phone and learn new things. Being able to share our stories without being judged has helped me gain more self-esteem creating a very positive bond between all my classmates.” This is highlighted by Carmen Tejedouna, one of the participants in this programme, which promotes mutual learning, team building and a sense of personal and social usefulness.

The organized sessions focus on strengthening areas such as digital literacy, functional capacity, social participation, health promotion, social skills, and the use of leisure and free time. All of this promotes the inclusion and participation of older people, as will soon be revealed in the new podcast being prepared by the project.

European innovation for active ageing

The project is committed to innovation in public policies and social protection systems through the design and piloting of methodologies focused on mutual aid communities, digital inclusion, and community participation.

Through the implementation of pilot projects, made up of teams that accompany older people, the results of social research are applied and best practices are analysed to integrate them into intervention methodologies. All of this allows for the development of more effective strategies to improve the social inclusion of this group. In addition, the results obtained are evaluated and continuous improvements are applied to optimize the impact of subsequent actions.

A history of success in the foundation

For nearly 25 years, Fundación Santa María la Real has been dedicated to caring for elderly and/or dependent people, focusing on innovation and adapting to their needs at every stage of their lives. Since 2001, it has been working to provide open and safe spaces where they can live, share, and enjoy themselves. It has already cared for more than 1,500 people and trained nearly 400 social and healthcare professionals.

The experience gained at the “Tercera Actividad” multi-service centres in Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia) and Valdelafuente (León) has enabled the development of high-quality care, combining nursing with active and healthy ageing programmes that help prevent unwanted loneliness and social and digital isolation.

Join the network of organisations

This project has the support of public and private entities through its “Network of organizations”, which is open to both Spanish and other European organizations. It encourages discussion and dialogue on innovative approaches, facilitates the exchange of knowledge and promotes the analysis of best practices to reduce the social loneliness of elderly people.

Organisations wishing to join this network can do so using the online form available on the project´s official website: https://redsalvia.com/red-de-entidades/  

For more information, please contact: internacional@santamarialareal.org