Minister launches South East Healthy Ageing seminar which addresses many topics

Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler TD, on Monday (4 th March 2024) launched the South East Healthy Ageing Seminar in City Hall, Waterford. The day, which was organised jointly by the HSE, Age Friendly Ireland, Age Friendly County Co-ordinators, and Older Persons Councils and Older Persons Forums in Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford and Tipperary, focused on the sharing of information on services and new initiatives to support older people in the community.

Topics addressed included home support, the Fair Deal scheme, Frailty, Assisted Decision Making, Telehealth and Safeguarding, along with how to keep yourself well as you get older, cancer prevention and early detection, and other supports available in the community through the Integrated Care for Older People (ICPOP) and Community Support Team, Mental Health, Community Health Networks and Chronic Disease Hubs.

Older people also gave their views on how they would like their voices to be heard on services provided by the HSE and other bodies. Across the day, attendees were also provided with information on activities through the Local Sports Partnerships, GAA Healthy Clubs, other Health Promotion activities and Healthy Homes.

“The day was a great celebration of all that is happening across the South East to support older people to live longer and healthier lives in their communities,” said Derval Howley, Head of Service, Health and Wellbeing, South East Community Healthcare. “There is a greater emphasis and investment now in providing integrated care for older people where all healthcare providers work together and with older people to ensure that needs of individuals are met.”

Minister Butler said that she was delighted to launch the South East Healthy Ageing Seminar in City Hall, Waterford which brought together the HSE, Older Persons Councils and Age Friendly Ireland to discuss supports for older people: “As Minister for Mental Health and Older People, I was pleased to outline the work I do every day to support older people to age in place at home in their communities.

“I was particularly pleased to note that almost 2 million hours of home support were delivered in the South East Community Healthcare area in 2023. This is the highest amount to date. I want to thank all those who work hard to provide services. The sharing of information is hugely important to help people to be aware of what supports and services are there should they need them.”

Mary MacMahon, Chairperson of the Tipperary Older Peoples Forum, said that the seminar illustrated how working together can make a real difference to older people: “The Older Peoples Forums or Councils are now working in partnership with statutory and voluntary organisations across the South East,” said Mary.

“We received fantastic information yesterday around a variety of topics that we will bring back to older people within each of our counties. We are looking forward to continuing our partnerships with all of the organisations to enhance services for older people.”

Alice Corbett, South East Regional Age Friendly Programme Manager, Age Friendly Ireland, said that they were also delighted to be part of the event: “We know from working closely with our Older Peoples Councils and Forums across the 31 local authorities that Healthy and Positive Ageing is a key area to enable them to age in place.  This HSE led, multi stakeholder event on Healthy Ageing in the South East region was a very successful enabler and a shining example of good practice for positive and healthy ageing for older people. We were delighted to support it.”

Fiona Crotty, Tipperary Age Friendly Programme Manager, Tipperary County Council, said that the event was a great interagency showcase: “The seminar demonstrated great cooperation between all involved, with the outcome being to promote positive ageing in each of the counties, and how best we can engage and promote the range of services from the HSE.  Health and Wellbeing is a core and integral component of Age Friendly and this showcase provides us with opportunities to inform our Older Persons Councils and Forums and to develop local partnerships.”

The ‘Let’s Sing Together’ Project was also launched on the day by the Lord Mayor of Waterford, Cllr Joe Conway. Funded by HSE Health and Wellbeing and Age Friendly Ireland, this initiative is a compilation of well-known songs, such as Que Sera Sera, Molly Malone and Daisy Daisy, in karaoke-style video format, which will be available to older persons, their families, carers, residential facilities and day care centres with prompts for gentle movements and clapping.

The video is available to view on the South East Community Healthcare You Tube Channel https://youtu.be/KEFAxePeZ18