Day care for the elderly

Group plans care centre for Listowel

By DÓNAL NOLAN dnolan@kerryman.ie

Wednesday October 19 2011

PLANS are being developed to provide a full-time day care centre in the grounds of Listowel hospital for elderly people of North Kerry.

The region remains the only part of the county without a fulltime service, despite the massive savings it would represent for the HSE in the long term, volunteers spearheading the campaign say.

However, the North Kerry Day Care Centre (NKDCC) has now hopes to locate a purpose-built centre on the grounds of Listowel Hospital that would provide extended day care services to the elderly.

The group currently provides care two days a week from a premises in Listowel that was built as a community house for the Respond estate. However, the organisation now wants to extend its service. "Our long term goal is to provide a five-day service for the elderly of North Kerry in a custom built centre. To this end we are in negotiations with the HSE, who have been very supportive, in relation to a site on Listowel Hospital grounds. We also have a firm of architects working on plans for the centre," Chairman of the NKDCC committee Michael Moriarty told The Kerryman.

"It is an acknowledged fact that the longer older people can remain at home in their own community, the less reliance there will be on hospitals and nursing homes and, consequently, there will be less cost to the individuals and to the state," Mr Moriarty said.

The NKDCC will hold an open day on October 23 in its current base in the Baile Ó Dubhdha Respond estate, off the John B Keane Road in Listowel, to get a better picture of the demand for the proposed service.

The group's current services include collecting the elderly from their homes and providing lunch and various crafts and entertainment activities in the existing centre. They also provide access to services such as chiropody, hairdressing and reflexology.

- DÓNAL NOLAN dnolan@kerryman.ie