Council survey highlights deprivation, isolation

EVIDENCE of social deprivation and isolation in North Clare has been illustrated in a recent pre-feasibility study, commissioned by Clare County Council, into the possible provision of stepped accommodation and associated services at the Stella Maris Centre in Lisdoonvarna.
According to a copy of a draft report completed by social research consultant, Neil Haren, data from the 2016 Census provides considerable evidence of both deprivation and social isolation among older people in single and two person households in North Clare.
There was a particularly high proportion of older people aged in excess of 75 years, which is half of persons in single person households. The study found 11 percent of those aged 65 and older and living alone in North Clare had no formal education.
This applied to 6% of individuals aged 65 and older, and living in two person households. In contrast, the rate of individuals aged 15 years and above in North Clare without formal education was 1.6%.
It is estimated that older people in single and two person households without formal education constituted in excess of 80% of all North Clare residents without formal education. Similar patterns were evident in respect of older people who had completed primary education only.
Older persons in single and two person households in the catchment tended to live in older accommodation than other residents. Up to 58% of those aged 65 and older in single person households lived in houses constructed pre-1970.
The study outlined 42% of individuals in two person households resided in dwellings constructed pre-1970. This compared to 29% of all North Clare residents.
It is estimated that older people in single person households without any form of central heating comprised up to half of all households without central heating across North Clare.
Two person households without central heating accounted for approximately one in four of all households with no central heating. Older people in single and two person households in North Clare accounted for approximately 12.5% of all North Clare residents without a car. Approximately one in three (35%) of all single person households in the catchment did not own a car. Close to half of two person households in the region had neither a computer nor internet access.
The study concluded that there is sufficient evidence of need to justify the creation of a stepped accommodation facility in North Clare that would be complemented by the provision of a range of associated services.
There is also evidence to suggest that interest in such a facility would be high and that an emerging facility would bring an array of social, physical and mental health benefits to older people in the area.
Participants in this study also emphasised the potential social, economic and cultural benefits of such a facility to the wider community of North Clare.

by Dan Danaher