Port accessThe Port Authority of Bilbao is commencing a new stage in its putting into practice of the Basque Government Health Department’s Paziente Bizia-Paciente Activo (Active Patient) programme by extending it to the entity’s retired employees. Weekly workshops will be held over two months with groups of between 8 and 15 people.
The main aim of the programme is to teach those persons with chronic illnesses and their carers about their illnesses, as well as to train them in habits and behaviours enabling them to achieve a better state of health.
So it is a self-care education programme whose aim is not to replace the role of health professionals, but rather to complement it. All groups will be directed by two monitors, one of whom has a chronic illness and the other a health professional. The latter will not be introduced as such, but just as a monitor so as not to create equality differences with the rest of the group.
In March this year, the Port Authority of Bilbao became the first company to put the Health Department’s Paziente Bizia-Paciente Activo programme into practice among its employees. The initiative forms part of its Portu Osasuntsua (Health in the Port) plan, which was set up in 2014 and aims to achieve the integrated (physical, mental, social and cultural) development of its employees.
