Home adaptations supporting safer independent living
Addasiadau i'r cartref sy'n cefnogi byw'n annibynnol mwy diogel
Care & Repair is a Wales-wide charity working to ensure that older people have homes that suit their needs.
The charity helps older people in Wales to repair, adapt and maintain their homes, allowing them to live more independently while reducing hospital admissions.
The Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant, recently visited the home of Gillian Arnold, a Care & Repair client in Pontypool.
Gillian was admitted to hospital at the beginning of this year and as a result, her home needed to be adapted.
Care & Repair fitted rails throughout Gillian’s home, ensuring that she could move around safely and return to her beloved home.
The Cabinet Secretary said: “It was wonderful to meet with Gillian to hear about her experience and see firsthand how Care & Repair has helped her.
“These essential services not only help make homes safer to help people return home sooner, but they also eliminate the stress and worry involved with adapting your home.
“Smaller, more targeted services such as this can have real-life impacts in our communities and I’d like to thank the staff at Care & Repair for their hard work and dedication.
“It’s so important that we continue to support more people living independently in their homes safely and without fear of trips, falls or readmission to hospital.”
Care & Repair Cymru has recently developed a new five-year strategy that will help them achieve their aspiration to ‘help as many older people as we can to live independently in safe, warm, accessible homes'.
Chief Executive of Care & Repair Cymru, Chris Jones, said: “The new five-year strategy comes at a critical time as we respond to the growing needs of an ageing population amid the challenges of a cost-of-living crisis. It underlines our ongoing commitment to the wellbeing of older people, reducing hospital admissions, tackling fuel poverty and easing the pressure on our health and social services.
“Each year we support some 40,000 households, arranging adaptations and repairs that improve health and wellbeing. These changes to homes prevent accidents and illness and keep older and disabled people out of hospital. Last year alone we saved the Welsh NHS £24m through reducing hospital admissions.
“We are thankful to the new Cabinet Secretary for her support so that we can continue to grow our work of making sure older people in Wales have homes that are fit for their needs.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
You can find out more about Gillian’s story here - careandrepair.org.uk/care-repair-got-me-home/
Care & Repair - Rapid Response Adaptations Programme (RRAP)
Care & Repair is core funded by Welsh Government with a £5m Home Improvement Agency grant.
Care & Repair Agencies also receive in £3m capital grant funding to provide Rapid Response Adaptations - these are small adaptations which account for around two thirds of all adaptations provided in Wales.
About Care & Repair in Wales
Care & Repair helps older people in Wales to repair, adapt and maintain their homes.
We are a Wales-wide charitable movement, working to ensure that older people have homes that are appropriate to their needs.
We support over 40,000 households in Wales each year, preventing thousands of hospital admissions and saving the Welsh NHS over £24m annually.
Our vision is a Wales where all older people can live independently in safe, warm, and accessible homes.