Have Your Say: Public Consultation on Health and Social Care Services and Supports for Older People
The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, T.D., and the Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, T.D., have set up a Commission on Care for Older People. On behalf of the Commission, the Department of Health would like to hear your views on the services and supports provided for older people within Ireland’s health and social care system – what is working and what could be better?
The consultation will enable the Commission to learn about the views of the public on the provision of health and social care services and supports for older people in Ireland. The views expressed will inform the Commission’s recommendations for the future development of these services and supports.
Health care focuses on health promotion, medical needs, prevention and treatment services (e.g. GPs, public health nurses); social care addresses broader support for daily living and overall well-being (e.g. meals on wheels, home support, day care). Health care and social care services and supports include:
- Primary care/community care: All of the health or social care services that you can find in your community, outside of hospital. These services include GPs, public health nursing, speech and language therapy, nutrition support, home support, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, chiropody, day care, respite care and meals-on-wheels.
- Home support: A service that provides personal care and assistance with everyday tasks to enable people to continue to live in their own homes for as long as possible.
- Nursing home/residential care services: Accommodation that gives care and support to older people who may find it difficult to live at home, this could be short term or longer term.
- Supported housing: Housing with care and support to enable people who need some care to continue to live independently in the community.
- Assistive technologies: Assistive technologies are aids that help people with everyday tasks and with checking their health, or that help people to live independently.
- Rehabilitation services: This includes a variety of services and supports aimed at helping people recover or improve their physical, mental, or cognitive abilities after experiencing an illness or injury. This can include occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, audiology and clinical psychology.
Other terms:
- Regulation: The rules set by the Government to ensure that services and supports provided are good quality and safe.
- Safeguarding: Protecting people from harm, keeping them safe and upholding their rights.
Who is this survey for?
This survey is for those who wish to share their views on health care and social care services and supports for older people (which the Commission on Care classify as people 65 years and above).
This includes older people, friends and family, unpaid carers, those in receipt of any government supports related to care (e.g. carer’s allowance, domiciliary care allowance, carer’s benefit etc), health care and social care professionals, and members of the public living in Ireland who have a view on the health care and social care supports and services for older people. This also includes public, private or voluntary sector organisations and professional bodies.
How to participate in the consultation
You can complete the public consultation survey online here.
An easy-read version of the survey can be completed here.
You can request a paper copy of the public consultation survey by:
Emailing commissiononcare@health.gov.ie
Telephoning the Department of Health on (01) 635 4000
Writing to:
Commission on Care for Older People Public Consultation,
c/o Older Persons’ Strategy Unit,
Department of Health,
Block 1, Miesian Plaza,
50–58 Lower Baggot Street,
Dublin,
D02 XW14.
Please see ePoster (in English and Irish) for your information and to print, display, and disseminate to individuals and/or relevant stakeholder-organisations as appropriate.
The deadline for making a response
The deadline for responding to the consultation is 5pm on 24 October 2024.
What will happen after I give my views?
The Institute of Public Health will write a report about what everyone says.
The report may be published on the Government’s website or talked about at a conference. (A conference is a big meeting which can last a few days, with a lot of people getting together to talk about a certain topic).
The report will be used to assist the Commission on Care for Older People to help inform and improve healthcare and social care services and supports for older people in Ireland.