Case study:

23 June 2009

Key working in Cara Irish Day Centre for Older People

Key points

A London housing trust is running a day centre for elderly Irish people approaching the end of their lives.

The Cara Irish Day Centre for Older People provides care and support tailored to the needs of the individual as well as signposting to Irish outreach and disability services for pension and benefits checks.

The service offers door-to-door transport and provides favourite food and music to make people’s final days as happy as possible. Meanwhile carers are supported with respite and advice on benefits as well as health and housing options.

The aim of the centre, which is funded by the Irish government, the housing trust and income from charges, is to provide a personalised service which is culturally sensitive and tailored to the needs of older Irish people – a ‘hard to reach group’ which has the highest age-profile of all ethnic minority communities in London.

One problem has been a lack of support from social services. An elderly woman with terminal cancer, recently widowed, was turned down for day care funding by social services, for instance, because her ‘needs [were] not high enough’. The centre provided day care at a reduced rate for the remainder of her life which also gave her family much-needed respite.

As a result of this experience the centre is aiming to become less dependent on social services and to increase referrals from neighbouring boroughs, the NHS and private clients while seeking more funds from charitable trusts.