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The potential of the co-operative care model to support older people to age well at home

23 Jun 2022
Seminar hosted by: the  CO-AGE project at the Centre for Co-operative Studies, Cork University Business School, and ISS21. 
Speakers:
  • Veronica Barrett, RHS Homecare Co-operatives, Roscommon.
  • Aoife Smith, Great Care Co-op, Dublin.
  • Emma Back, Equal Care Co-op, UK.
  • Dr Carol Power, Centre for Co-operative Studies, Cork University Business School and ISS21.
Overview
Meeting the care needs of an ageing population presents a significant challenge for Irish society. This research explores the potential to develop co-operatives to provide care services and support independent living and healthy ageing in the community.  

Care co-operatives are organisations that are owned and governed by service users (those receiving care and/or their families/communities) and/or professional carers. They offer an opportunity for older people and their families, and care workers, to work as partners to shape the design and delivery of care services. The co-operative model may help to improve the experience of care recipients and their families/ supporters by giving them a greater say in how care services are delivered.  There is also evidence that professional care workers working in a co-operative may enjoy better pay and conditions, helping to improve recruitment and retention in the sector.
 
This seminar provides an overview of care co-operatives and insights from those who have pioneered co-operative homecare in Ireland and the UK.    
 
The CO-AGE Project is a collaboration with Age Action Ireland and is funded under the Irish Research Council's New Foundations scheme.

For more on this story contact:

caroline.crowley@ucc.ie. 

Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century (ISS21)

Top Floor, Carrigbawn/Safari Building, Donovan Road, Cork, T12 YE30

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