Through its social engagement network AgeWell, the Irish charity Third Age Foundation is battling loneliness in old age. Its AgeWell Companions, themselves over 50, visit older people in their homes once a week, offering companionship but also monitoring the client's health and well-being with the help of a phone-based app questionnaire. The Third Age Foundation's Alison Branigan told us that to date, more than 500 people received the support in Ireland's Co. Meath, with some describing the service as a "lifeline" or even as "light at the end of a dark long tunnel."

What prompted you to start your project?

AgeWell was introduced in Co. Meath to support its growing older population, who had specific social, emotional, psychological, and physical care needs. Our health service is under immense pressure, our population is growing and ageing, and there are long waiting lists for services including home support. AgeWell provides a timely and practical response that compliments and enhances our existing health service by supporting older people who are isolated, lonely, frail, housebound, and at-risk to help them live better for longer in the place of their choosing, by providing them with social connections and ongoing health and well-being monitoring, and by identifying and reacting to emerging issues before they escalate into something more serious. AgeWell also fits well with the ethos of our organisation Third Age, which supports older people directly through innovative services and programmes, and creates unique volunteering opportunities where older people can support their peers and other community groups. 

How was your project received? Did you have any feedback from the people you helped?  (Can you give an example if you have any)

To date AgeWell has supported over 500 older people in Co. Meath. Many really appreciate the companionship aspect of the programme: they have built a special trust with their AgeWell Companions, which helps us to understand their needs and fears and thus enables us to better support them.

Comments from our clients include: “the service is a lifeline”, “I didn’t know I needed the support until I had it”, “I’m so grateful for the service and my companion, she brightens up my week”, “I was very lonely, I didn’t see anyone from one day to the next, I really look forward to my visits”. One client who found himself in a very dark place and admitted he had contemplated suicide several times said that “AgeWell came at the right time - it helped me to see light at the end of a long dark tunnel”; he also said “everyone should have access to this service”.

Our volunteer companions who are also older people have this to say: “I just love being a volunteer”, “It’s so nice to feel you are making a difference”, and “I’ve learned a lot about people and myself doing this job”.

Statistically we can prove that AgeWell improves well-being and social, emotional and informational support, reduces isolation and loneliness, improves self-rated health, and increases physical activity levels.

Other feedback includes peace of mind expressed by the family members of our clients, and recognition of our work from healthcare providers who continually refer clients directly to us.

What advice would you give to other organisations in terms of achieving results with such activities and programmes?

Know your audience, involve your participants in the process, and listen to their suggestions and their needs. Believe in what you know and what you can achieve, be brave, be creative, persevere: if your idea is good enough, you will find a way. Be open to working with others, and if you can get buy-in from the state or health service in terms of funding and/or support/promotion, that can add hugely to the programme's credibility, its impact and its success.

What is, in your opinion, the main trigger for worsening mental health in old age, apart from physiological factors? Can we, as a society, improve the mental health of older people?

Loneliness and isolation have always been factors that contribute to worsening mental health in old age; while this can be an issue in rural Ireland it is just as prevalent in bustling towns and cities. In recent years the effects of the pandemic, forced isolation, cocooning, and shielding, and the loss of social contact, access to activities and freedom have created an epidemic of fear, anxiety, depression, and mental health issues. Domestic and world events, including the rising cost of living, war and conflict, have also played a part. As people age their social circles can decrease, illness can affect their ability to get out and about, they may become housebound, or experience a loss of independence; all of these can affect esteem, self-worth, mood, and outlook. It is important that older people are not forgotten just because they may not be visible: we need to remember the importance of community, community interventions and the power of social contact and social prescribing initiatives.