Housebound people say: '15 minutes of care is not enough'

Oct 11th, 2013

Siobhan Garibaldi (rt) on a home visit

“Those 15 minutes of timetabled care are not enough” , said Sally! “What I'd really like is to have a hot meal to share with somebody. And I’d love to have my bed changed more often."- Ms Sally Lubanov in the Radio 4 interview today.

The words of Ms Sally Lubanov have hit several listeners hard this morning. Ms Lubanov is not the only housebound elderly member in our society who would really like to have a hot meal to share with somebody and for her bed to be made more often. There is an increasing number of housebound people who struggle with their chores even within the ‘safe haven’ of their homes.

For the last 180 years the St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) have been reaching out to those in need. Befriending has been at the core of our work, with our members making time to serve others. The concept of 'need' is broader than financial hardship, so visiting the sick, the lonely, the addicted, the imprisoned and those suffering from disabilities form a large proportion of the Society's work. With the support of our ten thousand volunteers in England and Wales, a large number of whom happen to be in the 60 plus age group, the SVP reach out to those who others do not have time for.

Last year these volunteers spent nearly one million hours visiting and helping the aged, infirm, lonely and deprived members of society. SVP volunteers identify and respond to the needs of those in the local community.

In 2010 – 2011 approximately 86,000 people were visited by a volunteer member of the SVP of which 34,000 were older people in their own homes, 15,000 were older people in hospitals and 17,000 were older people in residential care homes. Over 400,000 visits were made to older people.

By visiting and befriending older people SVP members form an important link to the outside world and to the immediate community. As well as befriending, SVP members also offer practical help such as assistance with shopping, provision of food parcels, transport to, for example, church, day centres or medical appointments, help with fuel bills and other documents.

Practical examples of conference work with older people:

• Mary visits Rose who has no family. She is lonely and misses eating the Jewish food she used to cook for herself. Mary visits Rose and keeps her company, shops for her and once a month cooks her chicken soup or meatloaf that they share.

• Jules was referred to the SVP by the Social Services. Jules suffered from multiple sclerosis and needed help to move to a bungalow where his mother could care for him. The SVP helped with the move and that was the start of a relationship which has spanned some 20 years. Despite his disability, Jules lives on his own and although life is difficult he has a cheery word for everyone. He is visited regularly and attends many SVP organised functions.

• Jim visits Anna in a residential home. She is physically frail but mentally sharp. Anna’s children have pre-deceased her and her grandchildren live a long way away. Jim visits Anna once a week, brings the newspaper and some fruit which she loves and discusses the news and current affairs with her.

• June visits Theresa. Theresa is struggling to survive on her pension as she is in a flat that is too large for her needs and she still helps out her many children. June takes Theresa food parcels, has supplied second-hand furniture, has applied for a grant to help with fuel arrears and helps her with her paperwork.

• Samuel visits Maria who suffers from arthritis. He helps tidy her beloved garden and helps her to send e-mails to her family in Spain.

• Many SVP conferences organise a Christmas lunch or party for the older people in their community.

Not very long back, one of our volunteers and Board members reminded the listeners via the Sunday programme, "it's about putting your faith into action and going out and actually helping people. That's what the St Vincent de Paul Society does. So you've got 10,000 members across England and Wales all doing what we're doing now - befriending people, trying to fill a gap and trying to prevent social isolation."

If you would like to extend a hand of friendship to Ms Lubanov and those like her, please write to the SVP info@svp.org.uk or call 020 7703 3030.