Healthy Ageing Seminar launched for Carlow and South East area

Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for Mental Health
and Older People, Mary Butler TD, on Monday (4 th March 2024) launched the South East
Healthy Ageing Seminar in City Hall, Waterford.

The day, which was organised jointly by the HSE, Age Friendly Ireland, Age Friendly County
Co-ordinators, and Older Persons Councils and Older Persons Forums in Carlow, Kilkenny,
Waterford, Wexford and Tipperary, focused on the sharing of information on services and
new initiatives to support older people in the community.

Topics addressed included home support, the Fair Deal scheme, Frailty, Assisted Decision
Making, Telehealth and Safeguarding, along with how to keep yourself well as you get older,
cancer prevention and early detection, and other supports available in the community
through the Integrated Care for Older People (ICPOP) and Community Support Team ,
Mental Health, Community Health Networks and Chronic Disease Hubs. Older people also
gave their views on how they would like their voices to be heard on services provided by the
HSE and other bodies.

Across the day, attendees were also provided with information on activities through the
Local Sports Partnerships, GAA Healthy Clubs, other Health Promotion activities and Healthy
Homes.

“The day was a great celebration of all that is happening across the South East to support
older people to live longer and healthier lives in their communities,” said Derval Howley,
Head of Service, Health and Wellbeing, South East Community Healthcare. “There is a
greater emphasis and investment now in providing integrated care for older people where
all healthcare providers work together and with older people to ensure that needs of
individuals are met.”
Minister Butler said that she was delighted to launch the South East Healthy Ageing Seminar
in City Hall, Waterford which brought together the HSE, Older Persons Councils and Age
Friendly Ireland to discuss supports for older people: “As Minister for Mental Health and
Older People, I was pleased to outline the work I do every day to support older people to
age in place at home in their communities. I was particularly pleased to note that almost 2
million hours of home support were delivered in the South East Community Healthcare area
in 2023. This is the highest amount to date. I want to thank all those who work hard to

provide services. The sharing of information is hugely important to help people to be aware
of what supports and services are there should they need them.”
Joe Butler, Chairperson of the Carlow Older Persons Forum, said that the seminar illustrated
how working together can make a real difference to older people: “The Older Persons
Forums or Councils are now working in partnership with statutory and voluntary
organisations across the South East,” said Joe. “We received fantastic information around a
variety of topics that we will bring back to older people within each of our counties. We are
looking forward to continuing our partnerships with all of the organisations to enhance
services for older people.”
 Alice Corbett, South East Regional Age Friendly Programme Manager, Age Friendly Ireland,
said that they were also delighted to be part of the event: “We know from working closely
with our Older Peoples Councils and Forums across the 31 local authorities that Healthy and
Positive Ageing is a key area to enable them to age in place.  This HSE led, multi stakeholder
event on Healthy Ageing in the South East region was a very successful enabler and a shining
example of good practice for positive and healthy ageing for older people. We were
delighted to support it.”
Martha Jane Duggan, Age Friendly Programme Manager, Carlow County Council, said that
the event was a great interagency showcase: “The seminar demonstrated great cooperation
between all involved, with the outcome being to promote positive ageing in each of the
counties, and how best we can engage and promote the range of services from the HSE. 
Health and Wellbeing is a core and integral component of Age Friendly and this showcase
provides us with opportunities to inform our Older Persons Councils and Forums and to
develop local partnerships.”
The ‘Let’s Sing Together’ Project was also launched on the day by the Lord Mayor of
Waterford, Cllr Joe Conway. Funded by HSE Health and Wellbeing and Age Friendly Ireland,
this initiative is a compilation of well-known songs, such as Que Sera Sera, Molly Malone
and Daisy Daisy, in video format, which will be available to older persons, their families,
carers, residential facilities and day care centres with prompts for gentle movements and
clapping. The video is available to view on the South East Community Healthcare You Tube
Channel at https://youtu.be/KEFAxePeZ18