Ireland’s population is ageing. According to the Central Statistics Office, 17.6 per cent of the population will be over 65 in 2030.
This figure raises many questions: what infrastructure do we need, are we equipped to cope with this shift, and what is the best way to look after our elders?
An obvious solution is homecare, where assistance is provided by a professional caregiver within the home, which provides a valuable alternative to residential care and can allow people to stay at home for longer.
One such company is Pioneer Homecare. A growing, family-owned and -operated Irish homecare company, it offers a range of homecare services including palliative, respite and dementia care, as well as providing overnight care and 24-hour care, across different life stages.
Pioneer Homecare is a Health Service Executive-preferred provider of homecare and is an active member of Home and Community Care Ireland (HCCI), the national membership organisation for managed homecare services in Ireland, which represents over 10,000 staff and 20,000 clients nationwide.
‘A friendly face’
Following a surgical procedure earlier this year, Pioneer Homecare client Margaret Doyle spent time recuperating in a nursing home. As she also has Parkinson’s disease, when the time came for her to leave, she knew that she would need some extra help.
“The nursing home owner recommended Pioneer Homecare,” she says. “I needed someone with me for a few hours a day, and I wanted to be back in my own home.”
The service meant that Doyle could return to her Dublin home, and back to her normal routine which she would not have otherwise been able to do.
It's nice having a friendly face pop in
For Doyle, homecare is about much more than someone cooking her meals or making sure her home is in order. Her carers aren’t just members of staff, but friends she is glad to see every week.
“It’s nice having a friendly face pop in,” she explains. “Most of the time it’s the same person. You get to know them.”
“The carers Pioneer Homecare employ are really caring and professional. Their manner is very good. They’re friendly and they really care. They’re patient – it makes you feel at ease.”
For Doyle, the service has been a lifeline over the last year.
“It has improved my life,” she says. “I’m in the house on my own. I haven’t really got any family. I’m the last one left. The homecare workers don’t replace family – but they’re like friends.”
Personalised care
For Louise Whelan, managing director of the family-run Pioneer Homecare, this personal touch is something she champions.
“We have a wide range of clients,” she explains. “We have a little boy who is 18 months old, right up to a 100-year-old gentleman, so the service is really very beneficial across the age and needs spectrum.
“It’s all about providing specialised care in the home in a compassionate and respectful manner. The client’s quality of life is what is most important to the team.”
Whelan also explains a professional homecare service can benefit the wider family circle.
“Homecare gives families the chance to have some respite. They are safe in the knowledge that they can take a break and a well-qualified, professional healthcare assistant will be there to help their loved ones.
Our clients are not just another name or another number, they are a part of our carers’ and our teams’ day-to-day lives,” she says.
People are at the heart of everything that Pioneer Homecare does. Both its carers and clients are a top priority, especially during the last 18 months.
There is a move towards enabling people to stay in their homes for as long as possible
“Our carers have been incredibly brave and selfless in their roles during the pandemic,” Whelan says. “They have been very diligent, dedicated and passionate about the work that they do.
“In what has been an extraordinary 18 months, the carers have been remarkable. That’s a real source of pride for us.”
Trained team
Pioneer Homecare is now looking to the future. It believes the sector will continue to grow to meet the needs of Ireland’s ageing population, and has increased its recruitment drive. Pioneer Homecare provides in-house training, including patient moving and manual handling, QQI certification and dementia training in order to meet the evolving demands of the homecare industry.
“We are expecting to recruit an additional 150 carers by the end of the year,” she says. “There is now a move towards enabling people to stay in their homes for as long as possible, and that’s something that homecare can offer. We’re facilitating people’s independence. That’s a tremendous thing to be able to do.”
Pioneer Homecare has always been innovative and forward-thinking in its approach, while maintaining its ethos of putting people at the heart of what it does.
“We were the first homecare company to have a fully electric fleet, indeed one of the first in a commercial capacity in any industry,” Whelan says. “That speaks to where the company’s heart is. The tagline on our cars is, ‘Already looking after the next generation’. We practise what we preach.”
To find out more about Pioneer Homecare, visit pioneerhomecare.ie