Cold Porridge, Broken Promises and a Missing Dog: Notes from nursing home advocacy

Richie can’t afford a haircut.Molly is desperately lonely.Alfie is forty-eight and just wants to go home.Nursing home residents often have no voice. They fall prey to coercive control and medical paternalism and are frequently deprived of their liberties. During the Covid-19 pandemic they were all but abandoned by the Irish health service. With devastating consequences. Cold Porridge, Broken Promises and a Missing Dog explores how nursing home residents can be empowered to raise their voices and take back control of their lives using advocacy rooted in social justice and pastoral care.Through rich storytelling that is by turns heart-rendering and heart-warming, Tony Carroll explores vital social and medical care issues through a cast of witty and mischievous characters, from the notorious wheelchair gang and the languid lounge ladies to Lydia, a former social welfare officer who’s constantly on the lookout for fraudsters. They all reveal the wisdom, resilience and beauty of old age, as well as the struggles and obstacles they face on a daily basis. As the author accompanies these characters on their journey, he too is transformed by the experience.With plenty of practical advice on how to support loved ones in care and make visits more meaningful, as well as spiritually enriching reflections, Cold Porridge is an invaluable companion for residents and their families, nursing home staff seeking to empower those they care for, and anyone who wants to look behind the curtain and see what really happens in nursing homes.About the AuthorTony Carroll is from Dublin and has more then forty years’ experience of visitation and professional elder advocacy and mediation, in both public and private nursing homes. He was a member of the multiagency National Advocacy Programme Alliance (NAPA), which was established following the revelations of abuse at the Leas Cross nursing home in Dublin. He continues to work as a pastoral visitor in the sector and also as a volunteer community visitor and telephone befriended with Alone. Read more