Homeshare is a simple but brilliant idea - it is the exchange of services: housing for help in the home.
Of course, individuals can arrange roommates for themselves, but our focus is on professionally-run homeshare programmes which skillfully ‘match’ two unrelated people to share a home and their lives for their mutual benefit. See why in this interview.
The Homeshare International Network is a learning community that enables members to:
- share news and information
- develop good practice
- share tools and resources
- work cooperatively for mutual benefit.
HI in Conversation is a bi-monthly online discussion of Homeshare topics to help meet those goals. Some conversations are restricted to Network members while others are open to anyone interested in and supporting the Homeshare concept.
Sessions are scheduled in UTC.
What is UTC?
UTC—Universal Time Coordinated—is the 24-hour time standard used as a basis for civil time today. It is also known as Universal Coordinated Time, Coordinated Universal Time or “Zulu” Military Time. It may be abbreviated to UT (Universal Time).
All time zones are defined by their offset from UTC. The offset is expressed as either UTC- or UTC+ and the number of hours and minutes.
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is often interchanged or confused with UTC. But GMT is a time zone and UTC is a time standard. Neither UTC nor GMT ever change for Daylight Saving Time (DST). However, some of the countries that use GMT switch to different time zones during their DST period. For example, the United Kingdom is not on GMT all year, it uses British Summer Time (BST), which is one hour ahead of GMT, during the summer months.
Source: TimeandDate.com
Upcoming Conversations:
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Join us for HI in Conversation:
We are very excited that, for the first time ever, HI Network members will have the opportunity to gather in person for HI in Conversation. This will take place on the morning of Thursday, 5 September 2024 before the 7th World Homeshare Congress in Trento, Italy. The Conversation will have two parts:
“Managing a Challenging Match: The Importance of Trust and Clear Policies” will be presented by Lucie Cunningham from THE Homeshare, Ireland. This session is intended specifically for programmes delivering a homeshare service.
The presentation will be followed by plenty of time for discussion about issues you may have encountered in a homeshare match and how to address them. As a closed session for practitioners only, it presents an opportunity to share openly and learn from the experience of others in a confidential, supportive environment.
After some refreshments, we will focus on A Vision for the Homeshare International Network with a discussion about how HI can best support its members. We will be looking at research initiatives, mentoring opportunities and a community of practice. Tell us how HI can add value to YOUR organisation.
The presentations will be in English, but participants will include French, Italian and German-speakers… so please do come and add your voice!
This is an in-person session is for HI Network Members only.
Thursday 5 September at from 9:00 – 11:30 a.m. in Trento, Italy
Find your time
It is now
Register now! After you register for the Congress, you will be contacted by Marta (Congress organiser) who will ask whether you intend to attend the session.
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
If you have questions please email us.
If you want to be added to our mailing list for information about future Conversations, please subscribe.
Past Presentations
For information on previous Conversations, tap the titles below.
April 2024
Preparing Annual Reports
About the Conversation
Preparing Annual Reports was a session for HI Network Members on Tuesday, 2 April 2024 led by Connor Timmons of Homeshare Vermont.
Topics addressed included:
- Annual Report Goal Setting
- Anatomy
- Strategies
January 2024
Homesharing in Residential Homes
About the Conversation
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Claire de Kerautem (1Toit2Ages, Belgium) and Estelle de Saint-Bon (Ensemble2Générations, France) presented about the matches that their programmes are making in residential homes. In the chat messages, Adélaïde Vannier explained that in France, RS and RA are like small buildings with more or less 50 apartments/studios. Each senior or couple of seniors has a studio. And we (E2G) have studios for students in the RA/RS, in order to mix the two generations. The students have at least a room, and can be also a studio with kitchen depending on whether it’s a RA/RS or an EHPAD (medical home, no private kitchen). |
This session was in French with translated captions which did not work as intended. The presentation can be viewed here. The film that was shown at the end is the one from Bordeaux. The garbled captions made it difficult to view so it was deleted from the recording; please watch it from the links below. The presentation was followed by a lively discussion.
Watch these films to learn about the placements in the residential homes :
- in Belgium : https://bx1.be/categories/news/anderlecht-des-etudiants-en-maison-de-repos-pour-organiser-des-animations/
- in Bordeaux : Etudiants en résidence autonomie with English subtitles
- in Marseille : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKvy5NKkeag
| View the presentation slides: Tap slide to enlarge |
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| Slides in French | Slides in English |
In the chat, A. Rossy noted that “in Flanders, in the Dutch language part of Belgium (1toit2ages is only in the French language part!), there also exists Kangeroo houses where the older person(s) live at the ground floor at younger people (can be all ages) live on the top floors and provides help and give services to the person(s) at the ground floor.” She recommended an excellent documentary to watch, made by a young care taker who lives in a home with older people, about dementia : Teun Toebes Shows in Inspiring Documentary That People With Dementia are ‘Human Forever’ see here a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lxPqxsgUKA
November 2023 (for HI Network members)
Dealing with media enquiries for Homeshare Programmes
About the Conversation
The HI Network in Conversation was led by Sibel Whitehead of Supportmatch Homeshare with examples of media stories. This session was for registered HI Network Members who discussed their experiences and practices.
Recommendations are being developed in a Best Practices document for Homeshare International Network members.
New Zealand Ministry for Social Development and HANZA (Homeshare Australia and New Zealand Alliance) partnership to pilot Homeshare in New Zealand.
About the Conversation
George Minton from the New Zealand Ministry of Social Development shared the policy considerations and decisions made in order to enable a Homeshare Pilot in New Zealand via the Office for Seniors | Te Tari Kaumātua.
- Participants were especially interested in the Personal Wellbeing Index they use.
HANZA Homeshare Development Officer Wendy Francis described the partnership that was established with the New Zealand Office for Seniors and the role HANZA played in supporting the pilot.
Age Concern Auckland were the winning applicant for the pilot. Homeshare Coordinator Amanda
Payne shared their experiences and outcomes to date.
View the presentation (ZOOM video).
HANZA and NZ Govt In Conversation PowerPoint slides
May 2023
The Importance of Social Connections
About the Conversation
Heather Thompson is currently engaged as a speaker on the topics of age-friendly communities, aging well, and elder abuse. She serves as the Chair of the Halton (Ontario) Elder Abuse Prevention Network and is an active member of the National Intergenerational Advisory Committee in Canada.
Heather Thompson
Heather is strong advocate for age-friendly, inclusive communities where all people can fully participate without barriers. She contributes to research (see National Institute on Aging documents) and has presented on the topics of Aging, and Age-friendly initiatives at local, provincial, national and international conferences and events.
Heather completed graduate studies at Queen’s University, with a Master of Science degree in Aging and Health. Her work and volunteer experience have encompassed leadership roles in the non-profit sector in Quebec and Ontario, including youth justice, disabilities, mental health, community support services for older adults, palliative and hospice care. More recently, she served for over 10 years as the Director of Age-Friendly Initiatives with Community Development Halton, a nonprofit organization serving Halton region. She actively steered the activities and projects of the Burlington Age-Friendly Council within the World Health Organization’s framework of an Age-Friendly practice, and served as the Chair of the Halton Age-Friendly Network, Co-Chair of the Southern Ontario Age-Friendly Network and Co-chair of the Older Adult Isolation Action Table with Halton Region. For over four years, Heather served as a Board Director with the Ontario Association of Councils on Aging.
Heather presented on Through an Age-Friendly Perspective – Understanding the Importance of Social Connections and their Impact on Health and Well-being of Older Adults.
Some key learnings:
- Risk factors of isolation and loneliness
- Understand how Age-Friendly communities and inter-generational programs contribute to the participation, health, independence and security of older adults
- The importance of social connections and their impact on the health and well-being of older adults
- Best practices in the prevention and reduction of isolation and loneliness
- How Homeshare can protect against isolation and loneliness
Review the slides:
View the presentation
For more information, read:
- Opinion | Loneliness Is an Epidemic in America, Writes the Surgeon General – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
- Social prescribing (nih.gov)
Watch
Age doesn’t define you – Global Campaign to Combat Ageism – #AWorld4AllAges – YouTube (1:44 min)
The Loneliness Epidemic | Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Social Isolation – YouTube (9:45 min)
April 2023
Economic savings for the Irish Government through Homeshare
“Economic savings for the Irish Government through Homesharing; A study by Executive MBA students from Trinity College Dublin’s School of Business in Ireland.”
The purpose of the MBA Social Enterprise project is to provide a learning experience for MBA students in Social Entrepreneurship through conducting consultancy projects for social enterprises. THE HomeShare has teamed with Trinity College School of Business since 2020 on various challenges.
In 2023, THE HomeShare challenged the group to research the economic savings through homeshare for the Irish Government, with particular focus on hospital admissions, Long Term Care admissions and Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) for younger people. Read the report.
The students built a Data Dashboard to work out the health/medical savings for each local area – view the video. They also found that one social impact of THE Homeshare is integration, combating racism and segregation, combating anti-immigration sentiment, strengthening civil society….
Trinity College Dublin MBA Presentation
recording of HI in Conversation: Cost savings to the Irish government through HomeShare (Zoom)
watch edited presentation (Chrome)
January and July 2023 (for HI Network members)
Matching Essentials
The HI Network in Conversation was led by Sibel Whitehead and Zaira De Novellis of Supportmatch Homeshare with case studies, discussion and opportunity for questions. This session is restricted to registered HI Network Members.
2022
November 2022: The National Health Service (NHS) and Social Care in England, and how it is tackling housing & inequality through Homeshare
About the Conversation
The National Health Service (NHS) and Social Care in England, and how it is tackling housing & inequality through Homeshare led by Ian Burden, Head of Transformation, NHS England – South West with Sibel Whitehead of Supportmatch Homeshare.
The National Health Service (NHS) and Social Care systems in England are a complex set of arrangements covering a wide range of organisations. This complexity can make it difficult for new services to engage with the NHS, especially where the service works best covering a number of organisations.
At the same time, issues around housing in England are becoming more acute covering poor quality housing driven by a lack of housing supply and strong demand. With housing being a key determinant of health outcomes, the NHS, in its role as an Anchor Institution, is driving a programme targeting health inequalities, as well as trying to solve its staff housing issues.
The session gave a basic overview of the NHS, its role looking at housing in the aspects of health outcomes and the role that Homeshare can take to support improved health outcomes, both in England and other global health systems.
Background Information
People who want to know more about the NHS (which doesn’t cover social care) can start off with this 2017 video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEARD4I3xtE (6:34 minutes) which is now out of date but helps illustrate the journey very well and includes some details that people may find interesting. However, that then needs to be followed by looking at https://www.england.nhs.uk/get-involved/resources/involvejargon and specifically looking at the ‘understanding the NHS’ link which includes a video (5:43 minutes) that provides the update on system structures. It provides an interesting look at how things have changed over the last 5 years with ‘STPs’ and ‘ACO’ now being ‘ICS’. The NHS England page also includes a link to a jargon buster …. with over 1,000 health acronyms!
What may also be interesting for people is that the NHS is looking to tackle health inequalities through the Core20 Plus 5 and supporting our initiative to be seen as an Anchor Institution which we modeled on the US. This role as an anchor institution includes income generation to support communities.
With all of the above, the NHS is looking more and more at Population Health Management and data sources, including from other international systems. We are interested in seeing what other countries are doing and more specifically, if there are case studies/data that support the conversation.
- View the Nov 29 presentation
- View the Nov 22 presentation
September 2022: the economic potential of inter-generational solidarity homesharing by Joachim Pasquet, Directeur of Cohabilis.September 2022: The economic potential of inter-generational solidarity homesharing (France)
Contact us if you have a suggestion for a future session.
