The + Adjective

As far as I know, we can use "the" with adjectives to refer to a whole group of people or things like in "The elderly require special attention" and "She has given a lot of money to the poor". But in "The attached is 6 files", we are not referring to the whole group but a definite files. I am confused. I want to ask, in "The elderly require special attention" and "She has given a lot of money to the poor", by context, can we refer to a specific elderly or poor people that we are talking about, and in "The attached should be paid attention to", can we refer to the whole group?