The emerging role of housing-with-care in local health and care systems?

Housing with care and the model of Integrated Retirement Communities (IRC), championed by the Associated Retirement Community Operators (ARCO) is increasingly being seen by Government as having a vital role to play in helping to offer older people in the UK more options to live independently for longer.

Currently, just 0.6% of over 65s - 75,000 people - live in an Integrated Retirement Community: developments which allow people to live in their own property, but within a community that has integrated care (should it be needed) and a wide range of integrated services such as restaurants, leisure facilities and activity programmes on site.

Research has shown that residents living in Integrated Retirement Communities spend up to 12 days less on average in hospital due to unplanned accidents compared to those in regular housing.

With the announcement of the recent Government Taskforce for older people’s housing, called for by ARCO, about to commence, this presentation will give an overview of the benefits of IRCs, where they sit in the current housing and care sectors and ARCO’s vision for the future.