Bishopstown Senior Social Centre, Bishopstown Men’s Shed and Bishopstown Meals on Wheels, along with Age Action Ireland (Care and Repair) are all supported through Cork South Community Work Department, Cork Kerry Community Healthcare (HSE) Covid-19 Information/newssheets have been distributed to all the elderly in Leesdale estate. Updated literature from Cork City Council was distributing to various outlets, shops/chemists in that area.
Bishopstown Tidy Towns teams started out again on the 9th of May but with strict Covid-19 procedure's
in place, protective wear, gloves, face masks, etc.
Community Garda again play a strong supportive role in the Bishopstown area and they are acutely aware of the high- density older population living in this community. A sense of security and safety is of concern for this cohort. Garda visibility is very important here. Community Garda have a large list of older people they are now regularly calling to, delivering pensions to and other types of requests. They are finding that they are increasingly using ‘Age Action’, for small jobs they encounter in people’s homes. People who are cocooning feel safe and sec ure because of these important interventions and Garda visibility. Bishopstown GAA Club have been excellent in their support in terms of grocery deliveries and a special mention of thanks must go to Suzanne O’ Sullivan for her input and dedication through out this period. (See photo) The club also initiated another massive fundraising event through organising a virtual Malin to Mizen Head Run. To date they have raised over €18,000 for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland . We’re doing this well … As with the easing of Covid-19 restrictions and people regain their ability to move more freely again this decreases their dependability on the CRF Helpline. Nevertheless, we have maintained a regular set of cocooners who continue to engage our services for grocery and pharmacy deliveries. The professional relationships developed through these contacts is a very excellent example of good practice which has increased trust, reliability, human contact, and a sense of security. This is delivered with an understanding of its limitations to avoid creating dependency and diluting the independence of those who understand that this is only a Covid-19 related service. Nevertheless, Issues do crop up that are not Covid-19 related but do appear in need of an intervention. One single example of this type of engagement is where the contact, initiated each time by the person themselves over many weeks, created the space to open doors to a local Community Prescriber intervention from a mental health perspective. That supportive connection will no doubt, continue after Covid-19, but would most likely not have been identified but for these contacts and the trust they created. This one example can be replicated many times with the calls also made by Bishopstown Senior Soci al Service and the Men’s Shed. CRF and Community & Voluntary Services are connecting very well with people from a solution focused perspective using very good practice.
What we’re noticing …
The drift in the Bishopstown area is a move away now from calls around groceries, etc, to medical calls for either transport to and from hospital or GP appointments. Access to personal care professionals like Chiropody which was reported in the Togher area report last week features here also. Bishopstown has a very good local support system between the Seniors and M en’s Shed and Meals on Wheels and therefore should any plans on the Helpline shift in these type of directions it would be important to engage these groups for advice and information on how best to provide locally for this type of issues under the restrictions of covid-19.
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