Additional funding for Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme - Kilkenny Live

Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler  has announced an additional €0.667 million in funding for the Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme for 2025. This new funding builds on the initial €5.2 million in annual recurring funding from the older persons budget in the Department of Health, which enabled the expansion from nine pilot sites to all 31 local authorities nationwide.

Since its launch in July, the programme has been delivering on its objectives, now with a full staff complement of 44 local coordinators. The Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme is an innovative support coordination initiative designed to help older people live healthier and more independent lives in their own homes for longer.

Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, said:

“I am pleased to announce the additional €0.667 million in funding for the Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme for 2025. This crucial investment underscores our commitment to enhancing the quality of life for our older people.

“The programme has already shown remarkable success in helping older people live independently and healthily in their own homes. With this new funding, we can continue to meet and exceed our goals, ensuring that even more older people receive the personalised care and support they need. It is a shining example of Sláintecare in action, demonstrating how cross-sector collaboration can deliver truly person-centred care.”

Key Achievements:

• Over 4,600 home visits and over 9,000 supports provided between May 2021 and December 2023.
• The national rollout aims to support up to 10,500 older people per year.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) cites the programme as a best practice example for person-centred integrated care for older people.

The Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme provides a comprehensive model of care that supports older people to remain in their own homes, where possible, to avoid hospital admission and early or unnecessary admission to residential care. Participants can self-refer or be referred by family members, friends, healthcare providers, social prescribers, or community members.

Local Coordinators, based in each local authority, conduct home visits and assess needs across six domains: health, housing, social and community supports, assistive technologies, climate, and finance. They then work with each older person to design a personalised action plan to support their health and independence.

Moving into the national rollout phase, the programme will continue to seek opportunities to establish partnerships with other agencies and organisations to deliver comprehensive supports for older people.