Fundación Hercesa holds the “Reinventing Care” Awareness Day

The conference was opened by Juan José Cercadillo, CEO of Fundación Hercesa, followed by the presentation and contextualisation of the event by Charo Hernández, Director of the foundation, who opened the floor to Alberto Rojo, Mayor of Guadalajara, who supported the work of the foundation in terms of social care in the Guadalajara area. Javier Solano, Montserrat Cercadillo and Eladio Catalán, trustees of Fundación Hercesa, as well as Inmaculada Tello, Provincial Delegate of the Regional Ministry of Social Welfare and Susana Blas, Provincial Delegate of the Regional Ministry of Economy, Business and Employment, as well as other authorities from the Guadalajara City Council and the Regional Government of Castile-La Mancha, and executives from hi! Real Estate were also some of the attendees.

Social workers, therapists and representatives of the third sector, associations, old people’s homes, social organizations, training centers, etc. also took part in the event as key players.

It was Yadira Zango, teacher at Fundación Hercesa and occupational therapist, who acted as ringmaster, introducing all the speakers and giving the event an intellectual and entertaining rhythm.

For three hours, the 200 people attending the conference listened to the presentations of expert professionals with reputed care and social-healthcare backgrounds. The three speakers shared first-person testimonies and tools for the management and emotional regulation of the personal and/or professional caregiver:

Nuria Piquer Vicente, with a Degree in Clinical Psychology and Specialist in Disability from the UCLM, a psychologist from AFAGU, presented “Accompanying the caregiver: how to improve his or her well-being”. She identified the warning signs of the primary caregiver at an emotional, psychosomatic and behavioral level and listed the protective factors of overload. She concluded with the quote “Sometimes it is good to think that life gives us the opportunity to care for the one who cared for us, or to care for the one who loves us.”

Nati Baldominos. Singer-songwriter and Founder of Mi Voz por Tu Sonrisa (My Voice for your Smile) presented “A different perspective”, with the objective of providing first-person experiences of being a dependent person, or understanding what it means to care for a caregiver from the perspective of being cared for. Through the use of her voice and music therapy she managed to raise the awareness of the entire audience, who ended up singing along with her without stopping smiling.

Alicia Sánchez Pérez, PhD in Health Psychology from the UMH and Diploma in Occupational Therapy and Nursing. ATENEA Project. InTeo Research Group. Professor at UMH, she presented “Mindfulness applied to caregivers” with the aim of understanding how our brain works in everyday life and how we can implement strategies for care and well-being through experiencing being present with acceptance and without judgment. After scientifically demonstrating that “the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences and yet Teflon for positive ones”, she answered the question “can you be happy?” sharing experiences of mindfulness with the audience.

We do not want to stop sharing with you what was lived in the Conference, you have it available in the following video… if you came, so that you can enjoy the experience again as many times as you want, and if it was impossible for you to attend, so that you can live it first person: