Housing support services for older people in Scotland
Older people, or elders, are people who are at or above a specified age. Whilst this is not less than 50 years, different organisations can have different minimum age criteria for their services, usually a minimum of 55 or 60 years. The needs and preferences of older people can vary extensively, especially when considering the age gap between people of 55 years and 99 years is just as great as the gap between people of 20 years and 64 years. Very elderly people over 80 years are more likely, though not always, to have age-related health problems and be in need of support services than younger elders.
There are generic floating support services in each council area that predominently support older people and provide home visiting services. They are called various names such as Home Care & Support, Home Support, or Tenancy Support services. A significant number provide a combined housing support and care service. A few social housing landlords provide a visiting support service for their tenants, who are vulnerable due to their age or other difficulty.
Community Alarm Services exist throughout Scotland, and all offer a service to older people which provides the security of being able to get emergency help 24 hours a day. These services are now starting to provide a greater range of "telecare", which can monitor the home and health of a person from a distance. Such devices include falls monitors and flood monitors, and are designed to enable a person to live independently but take action if there is a problem.
Care & Repair Services are available throughout Scotland for owner occupiers and private tenants over 60 years. They assist people to improve their homes and have repairs or adaptations done so that their home is suitable for their needs.
Accommodation with support for older people is available throughout Scotland, and is called sheltered housing, retirement housing, extra care housing, very sheltered housing, and amenity housing. Much of this accommodation is provided by social housing landlords and Abbeyfield societies, however an increasing amount is being provided by private companies to buy or for private renting. Services range from an alarm service or no support in amenity housing, to the support of a sheltered housing officer and an alarm service in sheltered housing, to on-site care and housing support services for residents of extra care housing.
Aberdeen (9),
Aberdeenshire (11),
Angus (9),
Argyll & Bute (16),
Clackmannanshire (6),
Dumfries & Galloway (17),
Dundee (7),
East Ayrshire (10),
East Dunbartonshire (9),
East Lothian (8),
East Renfrewshire (11),
Edinburgh (15),
Eilean Siar / Western Isles (5),
Falkirk (8),
Fife (12),
Glasgow (18),
Highland (10),
Inverclyde (10),
Midlothian (9),
Moray (6),
North Ayrshire (12),
North Lanarkshire (7),
Orkney Islands (5),
Perth & Kinross (7),
Renfrewshire (6),
Scottish Borders (5),
Shetland Islands (6),
South Ayrshire (14),
South Lanarkshire (14),
Stirling (7),
West Dunbartonshire (13),
West Lothian (8),
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