Just 11% of adults have chosen someone to look after affairs if they become incapacitated
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Only 11% of Irish adults have nominated someone to look after their financial and legal affairs should they become incapacitated and this leaves them at risk of abuse, Safeguarding Ireland has warned.
Dementia or acquired brain injury after accidents are among the reasons adults could become vulnerable if their affairs are not protected. However, only 5% have documented where they would like to be cared for if they become this seriously ill.
Also only 4% of adults have made a legally recognised plan for their future care and treatment, known as an Advanced Healthcare Directive.
Red C research carried out for Safeguarding Ireland shows 72% of adults do not even know they have the option of creating such a plan.
Chairperson Patricia Rickard-Clarke said: “Planning ahead means that these important decisions are recorded with a legal basis, and in the care of a person we have chosen and trust, for if ever in the future we need help.”
She urged: “Providing this clarity not only safeguards our future selves, it also reduces potential for confusion, conflict and tension in families and helps healthcare professionals to know what treatment we would want.”
The survey of 1,000 people showed when it comes to finances and property Irish people are less likely than those elsewhere to have made an enduring power of attorney.
While the 11% who have done this represent an increase on the 6% found in previous research, Safeguarding Ireland said: “In many European countries, a majority of adults have an EPA in place.”
The survey also shows 6% have nominated a designated healthcare representative.
Meanwhile, the Irish Association of Social Workers is running an online seminar exploring the views of people who use and deliver safeguarding services, amid calls for a fundamental reform of adult safeguarding in Ireland.
Among those speaking during the event will be representatives of the Irish Dementia Working Group and Inclusion Ireland who will share their experiences or perspectives on what "being safeguarded" means to them.
Speakers from The Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland and Inclusion Ireland will provide a roadmap for what needs to change to create safeguarding systems which respect the rights of adults at risk as individual rights holders.