Tipperary County Council to Support Older People to Remain in Their Homes as They Age through the Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme

Tipperary County Council is one of nine local authorities in Ireland to participate in a new initiative aimed at supporting older adults to remain living in their own homes and communities. The Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme is a two-year project which aims to reach up to 4,500 homes across Ireland during this time. The Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme is a Sláintecare and Age Friendly Ireland joint programme.

A local coordinator, Aoife Dunphy, has been appointed by Tipperary County Council and Age Friendly Tipperary and the coordinators approach is to support older people to live in their own home with dignity and independence, for as long as possible. The local coordinator will carry out individual assessments and then work with the person to develop a plan to assist them in accessing services and supports available to make the home most suitable. The programme’s ambition is to enable everyone to live longer healthier lives by keeping care close to home and expanding the range of health and social care services in the community.

The Cathaoirleach of Tipperary County Council, Cllr, Marie Murphy welcomed the new programme saying, “It’s very clear that the majority of people wish to remain living in their own homes and communities as they age. I’m delighted that Tipperary County Council is one of the first local authorities to be able to participate in this Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme. It is my hope that the programme will make a real impact to the lives of people living in communities across Tipperary”.

Chairperson of Tipperary Older People’s Council, Mary MacMahon stated, “On behalf of Tipperary’s Older People’s Council and all our members we look forward to working with the local coordinator to promote this new programme in the hope of assisting older persons in accessing services and resources to support the avoidance of premature entry into long term care.”

Chair of the Tipperary Age Friendly Alliance, Pat Slattery, added, “Tipperary County Council and Age Friendly Tipperary are proud to support the Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme, which is helping to ensure that participants are living in environments that best suits their individual needs and most importantly, aiming to support people remaining and ageing in their own home.”
Age Friendly Tipperary Programme Manager Fiona Crotty stated, “With the provision of the Healthy Age Friendly Homes Coordinator, this supports the theme of Tipperary Age Friendly to support positive ageing within Tipperary and for people to live independently with confidence, security and dignity in their homes for as long as possible and where they are actively encouraged to maintain, improve and manage their health and wellbeing”.

Referrals can be made by anyone once consent of the participants has been received or participants can self-refer to the programme. Referrals or further enquiries regarding the programme can be made by phoning the Healthy Age Friendly Homes National Office on 046 909 7417 or by emailing Age Friendly Ireland at info@agefriendlyireland.ie