DUBLIN, November 29, 2005:
Little progress has been made in increasing hospital capacity for older people in Ireland over the last four years, a major new report has found.
The report released by the National Council on Ageing and Older People (NCAOP) is based on a study of older people living in the east and the west of the country. It provides information on their health status, behaviour and usage of various services over the four year period 2000 - 2004 and is a follow up to a survey carried out in 2000.
The report found that three-quarters of those interviewed for the study considered themselves to be in good or excellent health in 2004, which was an improvement on the figures for 2000. Furthermore there was a reduction in the number of people smoking in both the east and the west.
However one in 10 participants had major difficulties with physical and psychosocial health, e.g. depression and loneliness. The report stated that while it is important to acknowledge that most older people have good health, 'it is essential to focus adequate resources and care to improve the status of those who are most vulnerable'.
The report found that the number of older people on waiting lists for hospital inpatient treatment 'had not reduced significantly from 2000 to 2004'.
"The overall number of people waiting for hospital and related services had increased significantly from 2000 to 2004. Thus there appears to have been little progress made in increasing capacity to meet need in the past four years", the NCAOP said.
The report also found that up to 10% of participants felt stigmatised and would not use meals-on-wheels, home help or personal care assistants even if needed.
Commenting on the findings, NCAOP director, Bob Carroll, said that that the report indicates that the majority of older people living in the community are physically and mentally healthy. This, he said, challenges negative stereotypes of older people and shows that most do live independently.
Meanwhile a second report comparing the health needs and service use of older people in the Republic and Northern Ireland, was also released. It was based on a study which involved over 2,000 people aged 65 and older.
The report found that most of those surveyed wanted to live at home with outside support if needed, rather than live in institutional care. However concern was expressed by the researchers that community based services are 'not sufficiently developed' to provide for this in the longer term.
This report also found that:
- There seems to be a better developed primary care (GP) service in the North than the South.
- Older people in Northern Ireland are seen more quickly by a doctor in A&E than those in the Republic. (In fact, 81% of those in the North reported being seen by a doctor within an hour of entering A&E, compared to 44% of those in the Republic.)
- Those in the Republic rated their current health much more positively than those in Northern Ireland.
Both reports were carried out by the HARP (Healthy Ageing Research Programme) team and were launched at a conference in Dublin, held by the NCAOP and the Institute for Public Health in Ireland.
The HARP team is made up of researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin, the Economic and Social Research Institute and Queen's University, Belfast.
By Deborah Condon
However one in 10 participants had major difficulties with physical and psychosocial health, e.g. depression and loneliness. The report stated that while it is important to acknowledge that most older people have good health, 'it is essential to focus adequate resources and care to improve the status of those who are most vulnerable'.
The report found that the number of older people on waiting lists for hospital inpatient treatment 'had not reduced significantly from 2000 to 2004'.
"The overall number of people waiting for hospital and related services had increased significantly from 2000 to 2004. Thus there appears to have been little progress made in increasing capacity to meet need in the past four years", the NCAOP said.
The report also found that up to 10% of participants felt stigmatised and would not use meals-on-wheels, home help or personal care assistants even if needed.
Commenting on the findings, NCAOP director, Bob Carroll, said that that the report indicates that the majority of older people living in the community are physically and mentally healthy. This, he said, challenges negative stereotypes of older people and shows that most do live independently.
Meanwhile a second report comparing the health needs and service use of older people in the Republic and Northern Ireland, was also released. It was based on a study which involved over 2,000 people aged 65 and older.
The report found that most of those surveyed wanted to live at home with outside support if needed, rather than live in institutional care. However concern was expressed by the researchers that community based services are 'not sufficiently developed' to provide for this in the longer term.
This report also found that:
- There seems to be a better developed primary care (GP) service in the North than the South.
- Older people in Northern Ireland are seen more quickly by a doctor in A&E than those in the Republic. (In fact, 81% of those in the North reported being seen by a doctor within an hour of entering A&E, compared to 44% of those in the Republic.)
- Those in the Republic rated their current health much more positively than those in Northern Ireland.
Both reports were carried out by the HARP (Healthy Ageing Research Programme) team and were launched at a conference in Dublin, held by the NCAOP and the Institute for Public Health in Ireland.
The HARP team is made up of researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin, the Economic and Social Research Institute and Queen's University, Belfast.
By Deborah Condon
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