Hanover Scotland is delighted to be supporting Scottish Housing Day 2024. This year’s theme of Homes for Life is particularly relevant to our core purpose to provide excellent services to meet the housing needs of Scotland’s older people and to support them to be as independent as possible.
Our Chief Executive Angela Currie has, with fellow housing leaders, met with Housing Minister Paul McLennan to discuss the importance of accessible, adaptable housing that can support people to live well as their housing needs change, particularly in later life. The University of Stirling’s Dementia Services Development Centre hosted this event today, which saw a wide range of discussions on how crucial housing is to living well in later life.
The panel discussions not only covered building homes suitable for meeting people’s need as they age but also the changes that can be made to properties to support people and the importance of making adaptations in a timely fashion. Delegates discussed the use of technology as a key element of supporting living well and also agreed on the importance of sharing good practice. The discussion moved on to the challenges of serving marginalised communities and improving the links between housing and health, and making those two equal partners. The need to tackle loneliness and isolation for older people and to approach building values to support the needs of the sector were also covered, and this discussion led to the immense challenge that is understanding and managing dementia.
The Scottish Housing Day partners have produced a report on Homes for Life, which was launched by Ashley Campbell of CIH (who is also a Hanover Board member). The report was also presented to the Housing Minister.
