Housing
Sheltered Housing
Bron Afon, as landlord for the former Torfaen County Borough Council sheltered housing schemes, has been undertaking a consultation with tenants on the future shape of sheltered housing to become a more need based service. This has involved meetings at all the schemes across the borough, including those in North Torfaen. Meetings were held in November and December 2009. The new Housing Support service was introduced in April 2010 with a menu of different services - from an alarm only service through to scheduled visits from Housing Support staff.
The use of units at Baker Street House, Kennard Court (both Blaenavon) and at Talywain House (Talywain) for short stay intermediate care support (see Health page) helped inform the review process.
Extra Care Housing
Latest position: The case for an extra care scheme in North Torfaen has not received support from the Welsh Assembly Government under the Social Housing Grant (SHG) programme, despite positive feedback as to the proposal made. Older persons accommodation is however still an important part of Social Care & Housing planning and discussions are being taking forward with local housing associations. This is to explore alternative options for development, and whether there are sites with potential for conversion or new build. As options are developed and considered, then updates will be posted to this webpage.
Extra care housing provides the opportunity for older people to maintain independence with elements of support as they become more vulnerable. Being independent means being able to live in your own property, whether that is leased, rented, part owned or owned, with flexible levels of care and support.
A well designed extra care scheme will provide 'homes for life' as far as possible. They feature independent units of accommodation, for example, self-contained flats with individual front doors, within a grouped setting, and with on site communal and support facilities including dining room/café, library/IT room, assisted bathroom, laundry, buggy store, etc.
Accommodation aims to be high quality with a variety of design features to cater for a full range of changing care needs together with a dedicated staff care response team to run and manage the building effectively. Dedicated staff meet the care and support needs of all residents in a planned and co-coordinated way and care is based on individual needs including out of hours calls when needed.
For an idea of the facilities that we look to include in Extra Care, it is possible to download a copy of the Ty George Lansbury Welcome Pack|.