New Local Service Will Support Older People To Live Independently, UK

August 1, 2007 – 9:52 pm | posted in Seniors / Aging

Help the Aged, in partnership with Age Concern Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Office, has launched a new service in the Greater Belfast area (Belfast, Lisburn, Newtownabbey and Castlereagh) that will widen the benefits of its existing, successful HandyVan service.

Home Support will support older people to live independent lives in their own homes. The new service empowers disadvantaged older people to access a comprehensive range of integrated services which will in turn improve their quality of life, help them remain independent, and enable them to access the right support, by working with them and their local community.

The service incorporates traditional Help the Aged services - HandyVan (home safety and security), SeniorLine (advocacy, information and advice), and SeniorLink (immediate telephone response service) - and will also refer clients into other local community support services that meet their needs. An Assessor will visit each Home Support client at home to discuss their needs and provide them with information on all the services offered. The service is free of charge to older people who meet the referral criteria.

Through the new Home Support service, HandyVan will continue to provide and fit a range of safety and security products in client’s homes free of charge. Such products include: door chains, door viewers, window locks, mortice locks, and smoke alarms. However, the new service will also offer practical advice and minor repairs ranging from small jobs to minor adaptations with the aim of helping older people with the sort of work around the home they are beginning to find difficult to do themselves. Examples of the new type of help available includes small jobs such as changing light bulbs, tacking down loose carpet, easing windows and doors, fitting curtain rails or moving house furniture, where possible.

Grace Henry, Director of Help the Aged in Northern Ireland, said: ‘Help the Aged is delighted to offer the Home Support service to the older people of Greater Belfast. The Belfast service is one of the first national pilots delivering Help the Aged’s vision of Home Support to vulnerable older people and we are confident that its success will signal the rollout of more local services across Northern Ireland and the whole of the UK. With more and more older people in Northern Ireland living longer, Home Support has a hugely valuable role to play in supporting disadvantaged older people to remain in their home and communities.’

http://www.helptheaged.org.uk

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