Care in the Community – Support & Services

An Post Insurance is a company that’s at the heart of Irish life, accessible from every village, town and city in the country. We know that these are challenging times, especially for those who are most at risk. While restrictions are in place, it can be difficult to get out and about to take care of errands, get some exercise or pick up those all-important groceries.

The good news is that there are lots of supports available to vulnerable members of our communities. We’ve rounded up six ways to access a little bit of help when you need it.

An Post

An Post Insurance are a wholly owned Subsidiary of An Post, and while a separate entity, we are proud to be a subsidiary of An Post, which has provided communication, retail and financial services to Irish people for decades. Even more so since they’ve offered vital help to our communities during these difficult times, keeping people connected. They now provide many excellent supports to the elderly and the vulnerable, such as:

• Free mail collection
• Personal check-ins
• Free postage to and from care homes
• A wide variety of newspapers delivered to your door

You can find more information on these initiatives at An Post - Community Focus and check out the video above.

Supermarkets

Irish supermarkets have also taken steps to protect members of our community who might be at risk, assigning set times for the elderly and vulnerable to shop in their stores. Lidl introduced priority shopping hours for the elderly across all Irish stores from 9am to 11am each morning, which includes prioritised queuing and additional assistance where needed.

Dunnes Stores have a similar service available; they’ve dedicated the hours between 11am and 1pm for the elderly, their carers and for customers who are medically vulnerable.

Super Valu, Tesco and Aldi are also allotting special times and deliveries for the vulnerable. We can also do our bit to support our at-risk neighbours by checking the relevant stores’ allotted hours and arranging our own shopping around these times.

Community Call

While some public services have been restricted of late, citizensinformation.ie have a list of some helpful services currently available to the elderly and vulnerable. Community Call is one such service which co-ordinates local assistance such as essential shopping, delivery of hot meals or transport to medical appointments and collection of prescriptions. Those in need can call the national number on 0818 222 024 from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Sunday, or check out the link above for local authority community response numbers in their locality.

Pharmacies

Local pharmacies have been given temporary permission to fill and renew prescriptions emailed from GPs. If someone cannot travel to the pharmacy, they can contact their local community support number for assistance which can be found here citizensinformation.ie.

Religious Services

For regular church-goers, there is no longer the option to attend services during restrictions. These services now take place online only. Worshippers can check citizensinformation.ie to access the various websites that host religious services online, along with guidance on how to use the services. There is also information for those with no internet connection.

Exercise at Home

Even for those confined to their homes, there are plenty of expert videos available online to help keep in shape — both body and mind. As part of a ‘Keep Well Campaign’,  Sport Ireland have a series of videos, including a programme for the over 70s that can be done in the comfort of their own home.

There’s lots more useful information on ageandopportunity.ie with links for keeping active, getting creative and accessing support services available to the elderly and vulnerable during these difficult times. It’s important that we all do our bit to help keep everyone safe and healthy.  We can do this — we’re not alone!