Report vindicates independent living

Housing has a key role to play in the
provision of intermediate care, according to a new report.

Research by the Nuffield
Institute, commissioned by older people’s housing provider Housing
21, evaluates an intermediate care service run by the
organisation.

Ten
independent living units were provided within one of Housing 21’s
sheltered housing schemes, to accommodate people unable to remain
in, or return to, their own homes following illness or increasing
disability.

The
report found that 76 per cent of users, who stayed an average of
seven weeks, returned to a more independent lifestyle and all users
who had previously been living in residential and nursing homes
returned to sheltered housing or their own homes. It also found
that 77 per cent of local care professionals said the project was a
helpful addition to local services.

–
Tomlinson Court: A New Approach to Rehabilitation in Sheltered
Housing, from the Nuffield Institute’s publications department on
0113 343 3946