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Supporting Tallaght University Hospital’s Integrated Care for Older Persons
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Research Pillar: Healthy and Inclusive Places
Project Name/Title/Acronym: Supporting Tallaght University Hospital’s Integrated Care for Older Persons: Testing an approach to identify the common housing hazards in housing affecting older people in South Dublin
Funding Body: The Meath Foundation
Project Partners: TrinityHaus, Tallaght University Hospital, BRE Trust, Age Friendly Ireland, The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, The Housing Agency, South Dublin County Council, and Age Action.
Project Timeframe: 2021-2022
Key Output(s): Research Report: See here
Webinar: See here
Project Description:
Housing is critical to the health and well-being of older people and is a vital part of preventative medicine in the community. Supporting community health is central to Tallaght University Hospital’s (TUH) Integrated Care for Older Person’s Team who provide multi-disciplinary care to improve the quality and outcomes of care for older persons and their carers, and to support older people to live well in their own homes and communities.
The TUH team is part of the Integrated Care Programme for Older People (ICPOP) aimed at promoting the development of services and care pathways to improve outcomes for older people in the community. These pathways involve various aspects of the built environment including housing, which acts as critical infrastructure for the hospital and community care ecosystem. In this regard it is important to understand the impact of housing on the health of older people in the Tallaght area and the downstream consequences for TUH in terms of both preventative medicine and the direct care of older people as patients disability.
The research aims to investigate the link between common housing conditions and hazards that affect older people’s health in the South Dublin area, and their impact on TUH healthcare delivery.
The key research output was a Key Findings and Recommendations Report outlining how housing should support Tallaght University Hospital Integrated Care for Older Persons. These recommendations will include:
- Specific housing improvements/adaptations that
a) help maintain/improve general health,
b) targeted housing related measures that support specific aspects of integrated care, and
c) provide supportive conditions on discharge from hospital, - Coordinated/integrated decision-making processes around housing improvements, adaptations and housing design for a range of older people’s needs.
This project looked at internal air quality therefore addressing some issues ‘Healthy and Inclusive Places’ and also covered issues around heating and energy conservation and thus linked with ‘Climate Action and Sustainability’. Through the research and engagement process adopted, the project also supported the 4th TrinityHaus pillar - Co-creation, collaboration and stakeholder engagement
Nationally, this project supports the ‘National Dementia Strategy’, the ‘Housing Options for Our Aging Population Policy’ and the ‘Housing for all’ plan. Internationally, it supports various UN Sustainable Development Goals as indicated below:
If you would like more information on this research project, please contact Research Fellow Tom Grey at tom.grey@tcd.ie.