Pensioners more likely to receive care in North

Pensioners who struggle to carry out the daily tasks of living in their own homes are significantly less likely to receive care than those living in the North.

A report published today shows that in the Republic more than one in 10 older people (14%) with limiting disabilities do not receive care. The figure in the North is 2%.

Another significant difference between the jurisdictions is in the provision of home help services.

The home help service has no statutory basis here, unlike in the North. The report, which examines future demands of long-term care in Ireland, says the Republic’s provision of home help services is “patchy”.

Taken with State subsidies for residential care, the bias here is towards residential care. This runs counter to stated government policy which is to support older people to live independently in their homes and communities for as long as possible.

The report’s lead author, Maev-Ann Wren, said there appeared to be clear evidence that the care assessment system in the Republic “is less effective since it leaves a relatively high proportion of the older population with disability with unmet need for care”.

The report highlights the lack of an integrated system of assessment in the Republic compared to the North when determining an individual’s care needs. In the North, care managers assess an individual’s needs and at the end of the assessment, one of three types of care package may be recommended. The report says as yet, there is “no such integrated system in the Republic”.

The study predicts 2,833 extra people will require residential or formal home care each year in the Republic until 2021.

The report warns that if the ability of families to care informally is not sustained at its present level, increased needs for formal care will be greater.

The research, funded by the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland, was conducted by the Centre for Health Policy and Management at Trinity College Dublin and the Centre for Public Health at Queen’s University in Belfast.