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We Need To Talk About Dad
Brendan Courtney's dad passes away months after documentary on care for the elderly
A documentary aired at the start of this year looked at the complexities of organising home care for the elderly.
TV PRESENTER BRENDAN Courtney has paid tribute to his father who died yesterday morning.
In January of this year, Courtney took part in ‘We Need to Talk about Dad‘, a documentary about the difficulty of organising care for his father, who was unable to look after himself following a stroke.
In the documentary, Courtney and his sister discuss how they might care for their dad – including remortgaging their houses in order to pay for nursing home care.
The programme gave an insight into the difficulties people face when caring for the elderly. After visiting a nursing home, Courtney said: “You don’t want to be mean about it because people work really hard at it, but it is depressing.”
The documentary sparked criticism of the government’s Fair Deal Scheme and the lack of home care entitlements.
In the wake of the documentary and on the back of that criticism, the Department of Health began a ‘public consultation’ on the issue of home care for the elderly.
Frank Courtney is said to have died peacefully at Our Lady’s Hospice, Harold’s Cross.
Frank will be reposing from 4pm to 8pm this evening at Our Lady’s Hospice. Tomorrow morning, he will be brought to St Kilian’s Church, Kingswood for 10am mass. The funeral will be immediately afterwards at Mount Jerome Crematorium.
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