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Age Action urges HSE to reverse smoke free campus policy for public nursing homes

Published 05/03/2014

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Age Action has urged the HSE to reverse its decision to introduce a smoke free campus policy to all public nursing homes and psychiatric facilities in the Midlands.

“These facilities have been, and continue to be,  exempt from the 2003 smoking legislation, and the HSE’s decision to voluntarily  impose the ban on residential facilities for older people will cause unnecessary hardship for residents,” Age Action spokesperson Eamon Timmins said.

Age Action does not condone smoking and strongly supports measures which help smokers quit.  However, it believes the new ban will result in some older people experiencing undue hardship.

“There were good  reasons why nursing homes and psychiatric facilities were exempt from the original smoking ban, and these reasons have not changed,” Mr Timmins said.  “The benefits of forcing these older people to cease smoking must be balanced against the hardship it will cause for older people who have smoked for many years and some of whom have dementia and other psychiatric conditions.  For those who wish to continue smoking, it will involve in them having to be accompanied off site to smoke, with the resultant strain on already scarce resources.”

Age Action stressed that nursing homes were first and foremost homes for their residents.  “While we accept that smoking is damaging to a person’s health, up to now nursing home residents have been accommodated with smoking rooms or designated outdoor areas, enabling people to smoke as they would if they were at home,” Mr Timmins said.

“The HSE’s decision to introduce its smoke free campus policy to all HSE sites in the midlands from today is a marked change in this approach and will force smokers to leave the campus to smoke, and to be accompanied by staff to ensure their safety.  For frail and vulnerable people this is not a satisfactory situation and the decision must be reversed as a matter of urgency.”

The HSE plans to extend the smoke free campus policy to all HSE sites by 2015.

 

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Age Action Awarded Investing In Volunteers National Quality Standard

Age Action is delighted to announce that we have been awarded the Investing in Volunteers quality standard. Investing in Volunteers (IiV) is the national quality standard for good practice in volunteer management in Ireland.

The Investing in Volunteers standard assesses the organisation’s volunteering programme in six areas: vision for volunteering, planning for volunteers, volunteer inclusion, recruiting and welcoming volunteers, supporting volunteers, and valuing and developing volunteers. As part of the process, we completed a self-assessment of our volunteering programme, and with the assistance of an Investing in Volunteers mentor, we then put together an improvement plan. Over the course of the assessment forty of our volunteers were interviewed as well as staff and board members.

Every year, hundreds of people volunteer with Age Action in our Getting Started digital literacy programme, and with our Care and Repair DIY Service. We would like to thank all of our wonderful volunteers who bring their time, energy and skills to Age Action and are the reason that our volunteering programme is so impactful. Volunteers are at the heart of our programmes and services at Age Action and without our volunteers we couldn’t fulfil our mission to support older people to live full and independent lives. Achieving the Investing in Volunteers quality standard shows our commitment to providing an experience that reflects how much we value our volunteers.

Here’s what some of our Volunteers said as part of the process:

‘I’ve gained a lot of skills from volunteering.  It has built my confidence in teamworking and communication.’

‘It keeps me active being able to help people and improve their quality of life’. 

‘I think they’ve got it just right with the amount of information to keep you in touch.  The monthly newsletter let’s you see what’s going on”.

“Emails keep you informed.  They are very willing to take suggestions on board, they encourage you to give them feedback’.

Going through the Investing in Volunteers process has helped us to review and improve our volunteering programme in its entirety, from how we recruit, train and support volunteers, to how we communicate with and involve our volunteers at all levels of the organisation. As we celebrate achieving the standard, we reiterate our commitment to providing the best possible volunteering experience for our volunteers who make an incredible difference in the lives of those older people we serve.