Alone urges more community-based care for older people

The national organisation for older people, Alone, has said the health system continues to treat long-term residential care as the default system response to ageing, at enormous cost to the State and to older people.

It has called for more community-based supports to prevent or delay hospital admission and nursing home entry.

It wants the State to build systems that make remaining at home possible, including the use of assistive and digital technology.

The Oireachtas Committee on Health has been hearing about the health strategy for an ageing population and care options, other than nursing homes.

Alone Chief Executive Seán Moynihan said that the number of older people over 65 years will exceed one million in four years.

Demand for nursing home care will increase significantly.

Mr Moynihan said that falls are the biggest reasons why older people seek support from the organisation and a leading risk factor for nursing home admissions.

He told the committee that the 'Housing with Care' model is well established internationally, which combines independent "own door" living with access to 24/7 onsite non-medical supports, enabling older people to live with dignity, independence and community connection for as long as possible.

Age Action told the committee that there is an urgent need for a statutory home care scheme with adult safeguarding legislation and service regulation.

Head of Advocacy and Public Affairs Camille Loftus said that everyone should have the right to receive the care they need at home for as long as possible.

Ms Loftus said the failures in older people’s care exposed in last year’s RTÉ Investigates programme represent a shocking indictment of the regulatory oversight and enforcement systems.

Addressing these failures is an imperative in the context of a new home care scheme, she said.

Ms Loftus added that placing adult safeguarding on a statutory footing is another urgent priority and has welcomed the Government’s commitment to place policy on a legislative basis and seeing the General Scheme of an Adult Safeguarding Bill later this year.

Committee chairperson and Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice said a right to statutory home care is core to the Sláintecare plan.

Mr Rice said it was promised in 2017 but has not been delivered, adding that picking and choosing what parts of Sláintecare to implement is not acceptable.