Housing of the Elderly in Ireland

The report has a number of underlying criteria which can be stated as follows: (a) The desire to retain independence and/or to remain living in the community should be respected at all times. People should be helped and encouraged to live in their own homes and in their own communities for as long as they wish and are able to do so. (b) Elderly people should be, at all times, given the facilities and opportunities to function independently and to retain their identity as individual persons. (c) Adequate and suitable living accommodation is even more important for the elderly than for the rest of society because in many instances their abodes are the centre of all their activities. Housing for the elderly must thus be viewed as more than mere shelter. Its psychological and social significance should not be underestimated. Housing policies should be aimed at enabling the aged to live, if they wish, in locations that are familiar to them, where their involvement in the community may be of long standing and where they will have the opportunity to live a rich and normal life with a maximum degree of independence and security. To achieve this aim, housing policies should operate with sensitivity and flexibility and in tandem with other social policies both at national and local level.