ALONE “The right to homecare and the provision of community supports for older people are a necessity”
Charity responds to report by Citizens Information Board
Dublin, 12th February 2018 ALONE, the charity that supports older people to age at home, has responded to a report by the Citizens Information Board which has been presented to the Department of Health. The report, which was delivered as part of public consolation to establish a statutory home care scheme, revealed that older people are being forced into nursing homes due to a lack of home care and other community supports.
Sean Moynihan, CEO of ALONE, commented, “The results of this report have come as no surprise to ALONE. Older people need access to home care and support to age in the community. If we are going to respond to the positive that is an aging population, then we need to invest in services in our communities.”
ALONE has met the Minister for Older People, Jim Daly TD, along with 16 other organisations in the hope of shaping a right to homecare. Moynihan commented “we are willing to work with all parties to help older people to age at home.”
Adapting homes is just one aspect of supporting older people to age at home and the government HaPAI Survey 2016 revealed that 48% of people aged 50+ have housing condition problems. In 2017, ALONE supported 200 older people on 345 pieces of work related to housing ranging from work that took a couple of days right up to projects that took a year.
Moynihan continued, “In both of these areas the amount of investment in the last 10 years has dropped while our aging population grows by 25,000 older people every year. We know our hospitals can’t cope and community services are the cheaper and best option”.
In response, ALONE is aiming to grow its services and increase its volunteers from 700 to 7000. ALONE’s Support Coordination Service for older people was recently awarded the overall HSE Excellence Award. This service aims to keep older people living well at home for as long as possible. ALONE is also training and supporting other organisations and community groups to support older people to age at home
Moynihan concluded, “ALONE is asking the government to prioritise the right to homecare and the housing grants scheme and to allocate additional funding to meet the needs of our rapidly growing and ageing population. We want to work with all parties to make this happen.”
For those who have concerns about their own wellbeing, or the wellbeing of a vulnerable older person in the community, ALONE can be contacted on (01) 679 1032 or visit.
ENDS
About ALONE
Established in 1977, ALONE supports older people to age at home. ALONE works with those who have issues with loneliness and social isolation, lack of services, poor health, poverty, homelessness or housing. ALONE provides Support Coordination, Housing with Support, Befriending and Campaigning services to over 1,000 older people nationwide every week. ALONE’s services are quality approved and are delivered 365 days a year.
For more information contact:
Maree Rigney, Limelight Communications, [email protected], 01 668 0600, 086 3587153
Kathryn Byrne, Limelight Communications, [email protected], 01 668 0600, 085 233 6033