Agency condemns Government on elderly care

A State advisory agency has criticised the Government for its policy on older people by accusing it of failing to focus on quality of life issues.

A new report by the National Council on Ageing and Older People (NCAOP) on long-stay nursing home care has found that elderly people have a far better quality of life in facilities that are more home-like and less institutional.

The study, Improving Quality of Life for Older People in Long-Stay Settings in Ireland, was carried out by a research team from NUI Galway. A questionnaire was sent to all care facilities in the State, and interviews were done with residents, relatives, and management and staff.

Speaking today, the director of the NCAOP, Bob Carroll, claimed that policy-makers have neglected quality of life issues in long-stay care .

"Older people in long-stay care are more than just patients, they are individuals who deserve to live with dignity and respect in an environment that is empowering and enabling, not belittling", said Mr Carroll.

"It is not only policy-makers who have to change; management and staff also need to change and see their roles in terms of developing and enhancing quality of life as much as quality of care."

Chairwoman of the NCAOP Eibhlin Byrne said nursing homes should not be places where old people are hidden away from the world and forgotten. "What really needs to exercise our mind is how to be creative regarding activities, atmosphere, and how the dignity of the individual can be assured," she said.

Quality of care relates to cleanliness, safety and activities available to residents of nursing homes; quality of life is gauged by the level of independence of residents, their ability to maintain their personal identities, their capacity to maintain social relationships inside and outside the home, and their opportunities for meaningful activities.

These four quality of life factors must be taken into account in the formulating of new policy by the Government, the NCAOP report says. In addition, it recommends people should be allowed to live in their own homes for as long as it is feasible.

Where they are moved to care facilities, residents should be consulted as to how to make their environment more home-like, rather than placing them in an anonymous institutional setting. This, the report says, will give them more autonomy and self-respect. Single rooms also helps to uphold dignity, it adds.