Loneliness, housing and financial support top reasons for older people contacting Alone

One older person said: 'When you hear a knock on the door when you live alone, it’s like a beam of light coming into your life.'

Loneliness, housing and financial support were the most common reasons for contacting Alone last year, when the charity provided record-breaking support due to soaring demand.

Last year the charity supported 22,300 older people across Ireland, with social isolation accounting for the majority of calls followed closely by housing and financial support, according to its annual report.

The average age of those supported by Alone was 75, while 63% of those who made contact were women.

Housing overtook loneliness as Alone’s main area of support in the final quarter of last year as the inadequacy of housing left older people with a “chronic lack of options”.

One older person seeking support from Alone was told she had to vacate her apartment as the landlord was selling the property and despite being on a waiting list for 18 years, she was “getting nowhere” with her local authority.

The charity provided €2.5m worth of support to older people last year, including the installation of 1,298 pieces of technology including ring doorbells, blood pressure cuffs, and internet routers.

Some 169,351 Support and Befriending calls were made while volunteers visited some 71,332 older people throughout the year. One older person said: “When you hear a knock on the door when you live alone, it’s like a beam of light coming into your life.” 

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The charity broke another record by providing some 994 older people with a Christmas dinner — the highest amount ever delivered by Alone.

Some 5,161 Christmas calls were made to older people on Christmas Day.

Alone CEO Seán Moynihan said ageing in Ireland has changed a lot since the charity was first founded 45 years ago, adding that he hopes policymakers become as adept at responding to our ageing population as Alone has been.

“We are currently at 1 million people over 60, and this figure is only going to grow over the coming years. There is an unfortunate gap in planning for our changing demographics that Alone currently exists in and we hope that as we continue to lead the way, more will follow,” he said.