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Budget 2007-8

FREE HOME CARE SERVICES FOR ELDERLY RESIDENTS

Thousands of elderly residents on the Isle of Wight will get their home care services for free from April 1.

The pioneering move will see people aged over 80 who may be asset rich but cash poor receive free home care from the Island's social services department.

The Council wants to increase choice for older people on the Island. Home care will be a real alternative for those older people who fear having to sell their home to pay for care. As well as improving and increasing the home care available , home care services will be free for everyone for the first six weeks whilst the Council assesses care needs and gives financial advice. Those people who need financial help will then receive their home care free so they do do not fall into the poverty trap of older age.

This is a first for older people in England and it shows the IOW Council is tackling head on the challenges for our older community making sure they have the money in their pockets to enjoy happy and healthy later lives.

Many older people will be able to stay in familiar surroundings while they are cared for by social services with care packages provided absolutely free of charge.

It will free up valuable resources for people already paying for home care packages which will improve their lives and help tackle problems such as poverty and maintaining their homes.

Cash to pay for the new approach will come from savings that will be made by having less people moving into residential care homes.

The Director Of Community Services Sarah Mitchell has said:

" We know that that initially 700 elderly people on the Isle of Wight will benefit immediately from the service and then many more as older people make the choice to stay at home in the future. At the moment older people on the Island do not have the choice they deserve to help them live in their own homes and be supported by 24/7 wraparound care services. Older people want to spend their money on enjoying their later life - meeting friends,keeping fit and enjoying the many benefits the Island has to offer. This initiative also helps us to work more effectively with our colleagues in the health service - making home care free at the point of delivery for the most vulnerable. This directrly supports the Memorandum of Understanding we launched two weeks ago "

Around 80 percent of elderly people own their own homes - meaning that the service will help thousands in the future.

A research paper by the Personal Social Services Research Unit showed that there will be a projected increase in the demand for home care on the Isle of Wight of over 44 percent between 2002 and 2022 and a 50 percent increase in demand for residential care due to the older population on the Island growing more quickly than the average for the rest of England.

Councillor Dawn Cousins Isle of Wight Council's cabinet member for Island Health and Community Well Being said:

"One of the biggest fears expressed by older people is that they will have to move into a residential care home - leaving their homes and having to sell them to pay for care costs.

Older people have worked hard all their lives to provide a nest egg for their families in the future and it has been a consistent worry among our older clients that the government will take their homes to pay for care - leaving them nothing to pass on to their children."

She added:

"This is an approach which will benefit thousands of older people on the Isle of Wight.

Many older people are caught in what I call a 'middle class poverty trap', too well off to receive means tested benefits yet not well off enough to cope with the costs of care packages.

This pioneering initiative will provide real help to older people by freeing up their disposable income - whilst at the same time enabling them to stay in their homes - something which elderly people have consistently told us is what they want."