With increasing reliance on online systems and multi‑section documents, many older people have reported significant difficulties in completing essential applications.
One form identified as particularly challenging is the Housing Adaptation, Mobility Aids, and Housing Aid for Older People Grant Application issued through Kilkenny County Council.
Recognising these challenges, the Kilkenny Age Friendly Programme Manager facilitated collaboration between the Kilkenny County Council Housing Department and a dedicated subgroup of the ALL Coalition. The goal was to explore how the application process could be made more accessible for older people.
Speaking to KCLR News, Kilkenny Healthy Age Friendly Homes Co-ordinator Linda Kerwin explained what makes this new form more navigable than previous efforts: “What the Housing Department was finding, and indeed myself in my role, was that people were either abandoning these forms, they weren’t applying, or it was causing delays because information wasn’t correctly put into these documents.”
“They clearly needed supports like stair lifts, for example, or accessible bathrooms, so I suppose they were at a risk of fall if that application wasn’t gone in and processed.”
