Elderly Accommodation Counsel (EAC) is a national charity helping older people and their families to make informed choices about housing and care needs in later life. It provides high quality information and advice enabling people to make their own decisions about how and where to live in older age and how to fund their needs and access services. EAC runs the national information and advice service FirstStop and has built the National Housing for Older People Database which provides detailed profiles of over 25,000 retirement housing and 13,000 housing with care options. Most enquiries come from families and carers concerned about the needs of parents and friends and an increasing number come from companies wishing to better inform and prepare their employees for the challenges ahead.
The charity's website www.housingcare.org receives over 2 million visitors annually seeking information and advice about life in older age. Last year EAC's telephone advice line handled over 18,000 personal enquiries seeking advice on housing and care options. Today over 11.2 million in the UK are aged 65 or over. The vast majority see themselves as active, independent, engaged and determined to enjoy older age. But housing needs, financial security, health and wellbeing and value for money are key concerns for older people and their relatives. This is where EAC and its service arm FirstStop come in. The charity provides high quality independent advice -most of it free but with a modest charge for detailed and ongoing support - to enable people to make informed decisions about their own or their relative's housing and care choices. Many thousands benefit each year from EAC's service.
Now 25 years old EAC also provides information, advice, business research and even employee training on the challenges and opportunities of older age- housing, care, wellbeing, finance, working with older people as customers and consumers. The charity undertakes commissioned research and advises a range of organisations and companies on the needs and aspirations of older consumers, on product and service development and on business and communication strategies for the 'later life market'. A key aim of EAC is to play an increasing role in helping UK businesses to understand and respond to the needs of older people and to empower them as valued consumers.
Copy on this page is provided by EAC, supporter of the older people's housing hub.
