Jim O'Callaghan
Question:547. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health the financial supports available to older people who wish to avail of assisted living; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4108/24]
View answerTuesday, 30 January 2024
Questions (547)
Written answers
A key focus of our Sláintecare reform programme is recognising the need to enable older people to age well at home and in their communities. In order to do that, I always speak about the triangle of supports we need to provide, which is composed of home support, Day Care and Meals on Wheels. Those are the three most important things and working in collaboration with each other, they make an important difference to the life of an older person. There should be no doubt that investment in these supports has been a substantial priority for me and for the Government.
Since Budget 2021 we have provided approximately €230 million in additional funding for home support services. In 2022 almost 21 million hours of home support was provided across the country. It is estimated that 21.5 million hours was provided in 2023 and this is expected to rise to 22 million hours in 2024.
Over many years, both Day Care and the Meals on Wheels service have proven to be important components of the community services offered to older people, particularly in rural communities. In May 2023 I announced the allocation of €5.25 million funding for Meals on Wheels and Day Centres for older people to organisations across the country. Budget 2024 has seen increased investment in both areas building on recent investment to support these services. We will be investing an additional €2.7 million in 2024 for Day Care Services, which includes an additional €500,000 provided to increase the provision of in-home dementia day care and an additional €1 million for Meals on Wheels nationally.
I would also like to refer to the Healthy Age Friendly Homes programme, a support coordination service which seeks to improve the health and wellbeing of older adults and to enable them to remain in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. The programme is an innovative collaboration between Health, Housing, and Local Government, delivered through the Age Friendly Ireland Shared Service.
Referral into the programme can be made by the older person themselves, or by a family member, friend, GP, carer, or member of their community. On referral into the programme, their Local Coordinator will carry out a home visit to conduct a holistic assessment of needs in the areas of health, housing adaptations, home energy assessments and retrofits, community and social supports, and assistive technologies. In 2023, local coordinators carried out over 2,000 home visits to older people and provided nearly 2,500 supports across these domains. These have resulted in marked improvements in their quality of life, self-efficacy, loneliness and social supports and enable them to age in place confidently and healthily.
Following a successful Sláintecare pilot in 9 local authorities, I secured €5.2m in Budget 2023 to roll the programme out nationally to all 31 Local Authorities. This is recurring funding and it provides for 1-2 Local Coordinators, employed by Age Friendly Ireland (Meath County Council), to be situated in each local authority across the country. The programme will be coordinated nationally across six regions aligned to the six new HSE Health Regions and is expected to launch in the Spring.
The HSE have advised that in line with the Enhanced Community Care Programme (ECC), their objective is to deliver increased levels of health care with service delivery reoriented towards general practice, primary care and community-based services. The focus is on implementing an end-to-end care pathway that will care for people at home and over time prevent referrals and admissions to acute hospitals where it is safe and appropriate to do so and enable a “home first” approach.
As part of the ECC programme, the Integrated Care Programme for Older People (ICPOP) model aims to shift the delivery of care for older people away from acute hospitals towards a community based, planned and coordinated care model which is closely aligned to Primary Care and Acute sector partners. The objective of the programme is to improve the quality of life for older people by providing access to integrated care and support that is planned around their needs and choices. This supports them to live well in their own homes and communities without the need to access acute care settings.
The HSE, in conjunction with ALONE, is also continuing the roll out of a Support Coordination Service across the country. The Support Coordination Service will support older people to live independently at home for as long as possible, through support coordination and access to services such as practical supports, befriending, social prescribing, assistive technology, and also the coordination of linkages to local community groups. This service is being led out under the Enhanced Community Care (ECC) Programme. The end goal of the Support Coordination Service is to improve the quality of life for older people by improving access to integrated care through working with provider partners, statutory bodies, volunteers, and to provide the right level of care, in a timely manner, in an appropriate location, ideally in a setting of older people’s choice.