ALONE’s Coordinated Support service provides practical support and coordinates services for and with older people to address challenges and to find solutions.

The service offers help to resolve financial and pension difficulties, support engagement with local events and activities, access housing grants and adaptations, navigate the healthcare system, access housing and tenancy support, and resolve any other challenges that may arise. ALONE Support Coordinators act as a main point of contact to enable older people to access the supports and services they need.

If you are referring the older person to the service, they must have given their permission before we can contact them.

Who is ALONE’s Support Coordination for?

People over 60 who:

• Need information on rights and entitlements
• Cannot access vital services
• Have physical or mental health difficulties
• Have financial difficulties
• Are experiencing elder abuse
• Are experiencing isolation and loneliness
• Live in substandard or unsuitable housing
• Are homeless or at risk of homelessness
• Require additional support to remain living in the community

The service is confidential, non-judgmental and non-denominational.

How does it work?

Here’s what we do when an older person contacts us in need of support:

• If necessary the Support Coordinator visits the older person to talk through their current situation
• A plan is put in place to help the older person resolve their difficulties and continue living independently.
• Support Coordination works closely with the older person towards a satisfactory solution.
• The Support Coordination Service works in partnership with local authorities, state agencies, community and voluntary groups.

To find a Befriending Service near you, please click here.

Link to our Referral Form – Click Here

Key Facts

• 29% of older people live on their own
• Our professional Support Coordination staff provided extra support to 5005 people experiencing challenges including financial, social, housing, and healthcare difficulties in 2019.

ALONE’s Support & Befriending service provides companionship and practical support to older people who would like extra social contact.

Trained and Garda-vetted volunteers provide weekly visits or telephone calls which enable older people to feel secure and supported at home. The service provides assistance to solve everyday problems, offers friendship and companionship, and links the older person in with local events and activities through social prescribing. Through regular contact with large numbers of individuals, Telephone and Visitation volunteers enable the implementation of national strategies by communicating relevant messaging and information.

ALONE’s support staff are on-hand to provide the older person with further support as and when required.

Who is ALONE’s Support & Befriending Service for?

For anyone who is over 60 and has limited social contact or feels particularly isolated and lonely.

The Role of the Support & Befriending Volunteer

• Provide companionship by visiting or calling at least once a week
• Provide small practical supports where necessary and appropriate
• Volunteers are not there to support with home help or care assistants’ tasks
• All our volunteers are trained, Garda vetted and supported by experienced mentors

The Steps Involved

An ALONE Support Coordinator will then call to the older person’s home to carry out a full assessment.

• The Support & Befriending Service is explained in detail
• When a suitable volunteer becomes available the older person and volunteer will be introduced by a member of ALONE staff
• Once the older person and the volunteer are happy with the match they will arrange future visiting times between themselves
• ALONE carries out regular check in-phone calls to ensure visits are going well
• All volunteers receive training and are supported through a mentoring system

Befriending Network Ireland

Further information on Befriending services nationwide is available here.

Make a referral

Make a referral online here.

The Facts

• Social isolation increases the risk of developing dementia
• 45% of people 75 and over are lonely often or some of the time
• 1 in 3 older people live on their own

ALONE’s Age-Friendly Housing provides homes and ongoing support for older people who have housing difficulties.

We provide secure, long-term tenancies and supports which enable independent living and offer security, comfort and their own front door to older people who need it. ALONE housing is assistive technology enabled and every tenant has a Support Coordinator who provides ongoing support to coordinate any services they may require.

Who is ALONE housing for?

People aged 60 and over who are homeless or have housing difficulties. Applicants must be able to live reasonably independently or with the help of a support package provided by the HSE or another agency.

Living in an ALONE house

• Staff work with tenants to coordinate the supports they need to age in the community.
• Residents are involved in all decisions that affect them.
• Houses are maintained to a high age-friendly standard.
• Communal areas are well maintained.
• Basic furnishing is provided.
• Each tenant signs a tenancy agreement
• Residents are free to have guests, have pets and otherwise carry on their lives as they wish.

Why is ALONE housing unique?

• We focus on supporting the older people to live independently
• The level of support an older person receives changes with their needs
• Residents can also get involved in the ALONE social events and activities

The Facts

• ALONE has more than 150 homes for older people
• Currently there is a housing crisis amongst the older population

Homelessness

In ALONE we adopt the FEANTSA’s definition of Homelessness where someone is defined as homeless if they are:

• Without a shelter of any kind
• With a place to sleep but temporary in institutions or shelter
• Threatened with severe exclusion due to insecure tenancies, eviction, domestic violence
• Living in inadequate housing that is unsafe or in extreme overcrowding

ALONE’s BConnect service provides technology and community supports to create connections between older people and the support organisations they need.

ALONE BConnect provides technology and support to ensure older people are supported to live independently at home. We provide tailored packages of assistive technologies, training and support to older people and their families. Our technology provides peace of mind for families and enables older people to self-monitor their own health and to link in with family and professionals to receive remote support in their home when necessary.

ALONE BConnect provides technology supports, training opportunities, and knowledge sharing for community organisations. We consolidate community service provision by supporting organisations to replicate proven models of service and reduce duplication of services. We work to promote sustainability and efficiency of community organisations nationwide. Through our coordination of Befriending Network Ireland (BNI), we support more than 60 befriending organisations across the country.

For more information about our technology for older people, read:

Information about BConnect