St Brendan's Village,
Mulranny, Co Mayo
Social Housing for
Older People
Social Housing Organisations
While most European Union (EU) citizens find their own
solutions to housing in older age, a significant minority
will always need help. Providing decent and secure homes for
this group of older people has long been at the centre of
the work of social housing organisations in the European
Union.
As the Millennium approaches their minds are concentrated
by the increase in the number of older people in Europe,
which has been described by the EU as the 'most important
social phenomenon of the late 20th century'.
The proportion of very old people in their 80's and older
is increasing significantly and with it, the number of
people with dementia and physical difficulties. Against this
background, EU members are faced with the challenges of
financing state retirement pensions, stretching social care
budgets and providing shelter for older people whose
expectations are rising.
Social housing organisations in the EU are rising to this
latest challenge.
Report
In a report produced by CECODHAS, the European Liaison
Committee for Social Housing (with funding from the UK-based
Joseph Rowntree Foundation), to mark the United Nations'
Year of Older Persons, one of the Main Recommendations is
that Governments and providers should help people stay in
their communities.
St Brendan's Village, Mulranny, Ireland, and the SLE
Habitat extra-care scheme in Lille, France are, according to
this Report, 'good examples of projects built to meet local
needs that keep older people in the communities where they
have spent most of their lives. Residents have the support
of family and friends in familiar
surroundings'.
St Brendan's Village Project,
Mulranny
St Brendan's Village is a community response to the needs
of older people living in the village of Mulranny and the
surrounding area on the west coast of Ireland, where more
than 30% of the local population is aged 65 or more.
Residents are from the surrounding area and local care
homes. Several are emigrants who have returned from the
UK.
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