A few days ago, a photograph taken in a nursing home made me shudder: two chairs placed two meters apart, one in front of the other, with a marking tape as a border, and some elderly people chatting with family members who visited them. The image made my blood run cold. And not only because it was a clear reflection of the pandemic, but because it transmitted an immense loneliness. That same loneliness felt by many grandparents who still remain in their homes, watching the hours go by, without anyone being able to visit, hug, or kiss them. A situation that, although it affects us all, in the case of the elderly has more serious effects on physical and emotional health.
Many found television their only form of distraction, entertainment but, above all, company. Because the small screen is a “treatment against loneliness”, as Paolo Vasile once said to Pablo Iglesias, when he urged him to make smart television. How wrong was the vice president of the Government (he himself publicly admitted it with that “Vasile knows about TV”). Because free-to-air television, that which does not depend on digital platforms or pay channels, is what most of our elders see, that is, almost 25% of the Spanish population. And the only way to combat that absence is with appropriate content for them.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, television networks throughout Spain have offered special programs to inform, entertain and keep our elders fit. I like it at home Another example is the launch by the Basque Government of Agenda Nagusi TV, an internet television channel for the elderly alone in Euskadi; or the specific forays of grandparents in A handful of stories (channel Super3). All are fun and ingenious proposals aimed at making this sector of the population feel more accompanied at a specific time. That is, momentarily. But what about the rest of the time? If kids have their own entertainment channels, what about senior citizens?
It is not enough for audiovisual communication groups to carry out sporadic spaces for dissemination and information, or to broadcast short reports on their newscasts. It is necessary for this segment of the population to have its own Clan, Boing, Neox or Disney Channel. If a few years ago we experienced a boom in children’s channels, why not a senior one? We owe it to them.
–
