Around-the-clock care
Our high-support houses provide intensive levels of around-the-clock care for men and women whose health and other needs are such that living independently is not currently sustainable. All our high-support houses are staffed by a team of experienced care workers and trained volunteers.
Our high-support houses aim to maximise people’s privacy and independence as much as possible while making their home in a congregate setting. Empowerment, harm reduction, community integration, coaching and recovery are prioritised over care and supervision.
“I love it here; I think this is what I was dreaming of…I’m a changed man, a very, very changed man. All my troubled days are over, thank God. I feel well safe when I’m in this house 'cause I knows I’m not out on the street.”
– Richard
Complex needs
A Cork Simon health study of all people using Cork Simon services, Homelessness Makes You Sick, found that among high-support housing residents:
81%
had a diagnosed physical health condition.
The most common conditions were wounds & injuries (32%), heart related conditions (27%), digestive disorders (24%) and muscle and bone disorders (22%).
59%
had a diagnosed mental health condition.
The most common mental health conditions were depression (41%), schizophrenia (17%), and bipolar disorder (7%).
49%
had both a diagnosed physical and mental health condition.
15%
attempted suicide in the previous six months.
15%
self-harmed.
"I’ve stayed clean in Simon. Now that I’ve got the support I need, my life is two hundred percent better. I accept the fact that I have two illnesses. I have to take medication for the rest of my life to mind one, and the only medication I need for the other one is to keep going to my Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Things are going well for me at the moment…”
– Harry