A new Edinburgh City Council report reveals a shift in the balance of care for the elderly away from
residential accommodation towards tailor-made support for people in their own home.
Three key proposals in Live Well in Later Life, the joint Capacity Plan for Older People are:
- build new modernised care homes
- build more affordable
and accessible housing - provide more intensive support to people
in their own homes
The report found that Edinburgh's 14 deteriorating, council-owned residential homes will need to be replaced in the coming years with homes built to modern standards.
The intention is to use some of the sites of the former homes for the development of new custom built housing for older people.
The cost of developing the package of community based services will be almost £57 million over 10 years.
Cllr Paul Edie, spokesperson for Health, Social care and Housing said: "Older people have told us that they want to stay in their own homes, in their own communities. Live Well in Later Life will allow us to meet the needs of older people in consultation with them."
He added: "There will of course be some cases where residential accommodation is required and while the quality of care provided in our care homes is consistently high, the fabric of the buildings does not meet modern standards and their construction does not allow for refurbishment. In building new custom-built homes we are able to match the standard of accommodation to the high standard of care we provide."
The report goes to the Health, Social care and Housing Committee on Tuesday.