€2 million investment for new Home Help service

Parliamentary Secretary for Persons with Disabilities and Active Ageing Anthony Agius Decelis unveiled the new Home Help service for the elderly yesterday, through a €2 million investment.

This, he said, is half a million euros more invested each year in such a service so that elderly persons can be given a better quality of service.

The reform in the service had already begun and was being implemented, he said, adding that over an eight-month period, the waiting list for the service had dropped from 500 to 210.

Currently, he said, 4,000 elderly people were benefitting from the service. The major reform in the service, he said, was that from 1 January 2020, in order for all elderly people on the waiting list to be helped, and due to the lack of helpers, elderly persons would be able opt to be given €5.50 for every hour approved by an independent board and choose the helper they want themselves. In this case, the €2.33 weekly fee will not need to be paid.

The hours would need to be approved by the independent Home Help Board, he stressed.

Agius Decelis said that the government would continue to work towards providing the highest level of care for the elderly, including those in residential homes and those who live in the community.

This, he said, was a reflection of how the elderly were right at the centre of government policies, “and how we do not just think about them whenever an election comes round.”

CEO for Active Ageing and Community Care Renzo De Gabriele said that one of the changes to the Home Help service was that the assessment process would speed up so that the applicant could be given a response from the board more quickly.

Applicants over 80, he said, would be given two hours of aid a week from a helper through an assessment carried out directly by the Active Ageing and Community Care supervisor.

De Gabriele said that the scheme would commence on 1 January 2020 and that all new applicants from that date forward would be offered the scheme. Elderly persons currently on the old scheme will also be given the opportunity to switch over next year.