The National Age Friendly Programme is a shared service hosted by Meath County Council on behalf of the local government sector. This municipality-led national programme is based on the World Health Organisations (WHO) Global Age Friendly Programme and is operational
across all 31 local authority areas in Ireland. The programme is focussed on ensuring Ireland is responsive to the increasing needs of older people and adopting effective local policy approaches to respond to demographic ageing. This process is based on multi stakeholder engagement and over the last 10 years significant progress has been made through this programme in implementing innovative practices that have responded to the needs of an ageing society. Catherine is a principal advisor at strategic level, engaging with key leaders across public, private and NGO sector and consulting democratically with citizens to reshape the way in which services are delivered. Her expertise lies in strategic
planning and promoting collaborative approaches to effective service reform.
Spanning a 25-year career, Catherine’s previous backgrounds involved working in the field of Telecare, Telehealth, Housing & Community and the provision of remote clinical and nonclinical care services to older people who wanted to live
independently. Catherine is a champion of integrated care services with a vision of promoting independent living and building sustainable environments. She has worked across the public, NGO and private sector with a variety of organisations in which she garnered extensive knowledge of the issues effecting older people and how we plan for demographic change.