1,293 of the 9,647 people living in Tuam in April 2022 were aged 65 or over (13.4%). The town is the largest town in County Galway outside the city. 2.6% of residents rated their health as bad or very bad, and 512 people (5.3%) provide regular unpaid care. In County Galway, 42,886 people are 65 or over, 15.4% of the county, and growth in that age group ranks 10th of the 26 counties. In County Galway, 25.8% of over-65s in private households live alone, which is 10,297 people and in line with the national 25.9%.
This part of the country comes under HSE West and North West, within the Galway and Roscommon area. The local HSE contact for home support is the HSE Home Support Office in Galway, at 2nd Floor, La Nua, Ballybane, Galway H91 VE03 (091 748 474). For a doctor after hours, callers go through Westdoc. We found 20 home care provider offices listed in County Galway, from 20 names. Names on the county list include Dovida, Bluebird Care, Caremark, Comfort Keepers and Right at Home. Loughrea is 40 km from the town, so a client's family may well ring an agency based in either.
On the HSE hospital list, the acute site for the area is University Hospital Galway. Palliative care in the area is provided by Galway Hospice Foundation and Galway Community Specialist Palliative Care Team. Because the agency sets the rules, a call about a fall goes straight to a person and a call about tomorrow's time waits for the morning. A family who rings and gets a clear answer remembers the agency that picked up. The Gaeltacht areas of County Galway (Conamara and the Aran Islands) are worth a mention: if your clients there speak Irish, raise it with us at the demo.