A call for home care for older people to be made a priority and for increased investment to make services available has been made in a book launched last night.
President of the Law Reform Commission Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness introduced the first book by Trinity College Dublin's (TCD) social policy and ageing research centre.
In the Long Room at TCD, she said there was a great deal of rhetorical interest about the elderly staying in their own homes but there had been very little research into it or clear line of policy structure.
She said what impressed her about the book was the depth of research into the role of the State and health authorities, the non-profit and voluntary sector and the private sector.
"It is extremely valuable that all three aspects have been so thoroughly researched," she said.
Referring to elderly people who were in hospital, Mrs Justice McGuinness said: "It sometimes looks as though the motivation is to clear hospital beds rather than assessing the real need of the elderly person being discharged."
The book also considered evolving care policies for the future and noted there were insufficient resources or social workers, she said.
Director of the centre Dr Virpi Timonen said home care for older people in Ireland needed to be taken seriously and made a priority by policymakers. She said there was a lack of a coherent services policy framework.
"Now is the time to develop guidelines for ensuring the provision of high-quality home care. The recent focus on home care is welcome, but much work needs to be done to develop policies which prioritise such care," she said.
The study was conducted between August 2005 and April 2006. Interviews were carried out with 125 individuals involved in the financing and delivery of home care for older people in the greater Dublin area.
The three sectors involved in the financing and provision of home care - public, non-profit and private - were compared.
Among the key findings in the book was that if current funding arrangements were maintained, it was likely the non-profit sector and the private sector would continue to evolve along different paths. It also said there was unequal access to services across different areas.
The book found there was little communication and co-ordination between the different home care service providers.
It also pointed out that it was important not to adopt the attitude that care in the home could be provided on the cheap.
The book, No Place like Home: Domiciliary Care Services for Older People in Ireland (Liffey Press), was written by Dr Timonen, Martha Doyle and David Prendergast.