Homelessness, Ageing and Dying 39 GRAHAM Graham is 55 and a native Irish speaker. He grew up on a farm and left school early to help on the farm. He also did a bit of mackerel and herring fishing and plastering as he was always good with his hands. A combination of mental health issues and drinking led Graham to leave home and eventually to sleep rough. He was referred to various hostels before eventually coming to live in his current accommodation where he has been for a number of years. Graham likes where he lives, he says it suits him. He also likes that his keyworker is also a native Irish speaker…he says it makes life easier. Graham used to drink heavily but gave up alcohol 15 years ago. More recently Graham got involved in a health programme and is feeling a lot better. He has lost weight, is eating better and getting more exercise. This helps him to reduce his stress levels and worry less about things. Graham watches a good bit of TV and listens to radio in Irish. He says watching TV and listening to the radio helps him keep his mind occupied and reduce his worry levels. He also sometimes gets the bus out to where he used to live and meets up with friends in the local pub. Thinking about dying and death sometimes keep Graham awake at night but when that happens he turns on the radio and tries to stop thinking about it. 3.4.2 Tenancies Current worries for a significant number of interviewees could be traced back to issues related to their tenancies. A number of those living in local authority accommodation worried what would happen to them if they were not able to sustain their tenancy. For those individuals, many of them made it their business to pay their rent as a priority. Other issues these interviewees struggled with in relation to their tenancies often related to keeping their place tidy and refuse disposal. Many of those interviewed living in communal accommodation aspired to have their own place, the majority recognised that this was probably not an option for them (without significant additional home help input (this in turn was not seen as likely in the current economic climate)) given their current health status. The tenancy related issues for interviewees living in hostels/ houses can be divided into two; fears about exclusion from their current accommodation and fears about being moved (to a nursing home in particular). The three or four interviewees fears around exclusion tended to relate to what would happen to them if they, as they described ‘went on a bender’. A much larger number of interviewees were concerned that they could be moved to a nursing home, when they were content where they were. An interesting example of a successful relocation of three older men from a Simon House to a retirement home/nursing home was identified in Galway and this could perhaps provide a model that could be used in other locations when the needs of an individual increase to such a level that they require high levels of on-going personal care.
Homelessness, Ageing and Dying
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