Loneliness is the biggest problem faced by older people according to new study
Loneliness is the biggest individual problem faced by older people living alone, according to a new report, “Older people - experiences and issues” published by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVP).
It is particularly acute in rural areas with a reduced level of human contact as a result of declining public services, such as the closure of post offices and reductions in other local services including transport.
This report on the experiences and issues of older people in Ireland also covers their attitudes to growing old, the younger generation, family links, income support, crime, housing, religion and employment.
A particular problem highlighted in the study was the lack of transport services to hospitals and other medical appointments. In rural Ireland, where hospitals or health services were closed, ambulance or transport services were not provided in their place. The researchers heard numerous examples of older people obliged to make long, difficult and sometimes stressful journeys to hospitals at great personal expense. Poor public transport was identified, as a significant problem in built-up urban areas as well as rural areas.
Having enough money is also a major issue for the older people. Those who received the State pension told the SVP researchers that they were “just able to manage.” And the threat of fuel poverty was of great concern to many consulted.
The SVP study also found that the feeling of getting old was only noticed as ailments, stiffness or more recurring health problems began to develop. The loss of a partners, retirement from the workforce or becoming a grandparent were other important points of transition.
However older people’s attitude to old age was generally very positive. The message of ‘active’ fit old age has been firmly embraced. They regarded themselves as fortunate and Ireland as a good place in which to grow old.
“Although the SVP is working to combat loneliness by its system of personal visitation, services such as day centres, social housing and holidays, and the provision of personal alarms, this is a very wide social issue,” said SVP National President, Mairead Bushnell.
“As this study shows older people especially disliked robotic telephone answering systems used by public and private companies which, they felt, reduced personal contact. To keep in touch, many older people use mobile phones, mainly for calls and a smaller proportion for texting. Few people we talked to used personal computers or the internet,” she said.
The purpose of the research was to understand the experience of being an older person in Ireland today and to draw out the implications both for Government policy and the work and development of services of the SVP itself. Almost 600 people were interviewed in 43 different urban, provincial and rural areas by independent researchers, Kathy Walsh & Brian Harvey.
The research was a qualitative exploration into the lives of a broad sample of older people, many of whom are assisted by SVP, are harder to reach and more vulnerable than in surveys of older people in general. The research was carried out using a robust methodology. An SVP Commission of Older People oversaw this research project, which was funded by Atlantic Philanthropies and evaluated by social research consultant, Niall Watters.
Younger People
Older people had mixed views of the younger generation, some finding that they showed little respect for older people, others telling of their kindness and courtesy.
Family
Although there were exceptions, older people had frequent contact with their children and grandchildren, who kept in regular contact through telephone and visits.
Income support
Income support was a key question for older people. Those who received the State pension were just able to manage, but they had long learned to be disciplined in money management. The State pension did not permit saving for a rainy day, emergencies, breakdown of appliances or repairs and this was itself a form of poverty. The Christmas bonus had been used by older people for this purpose and its abolition was still bitterly resented.
Government/Stealth Charges
There was a strong sense of unfairness in government decisions about older people, which they contrasted with the extravagant lifestyles of ministers, the political class and the bankers. Older people reported a range of stealth charges that were eating into their incomes: eye tests, blood tests, dental charges, waste charges, the new electricity charge and the prescription charge (many older people had multiple prescriptions).
Health
For most, having their health and being pain-free were the most important determinants of the quality of old age.
Health Services
Older people regarded health services as good - once they got them. Experiences of poor hospital care were reported, with a decline in nursing care, the lack of stimulation of long-stay patients or people with dementia. There was strong resentment at the way in which people with money could skip the queue through the VHI. Older people saw these problems as systemic and were puzzled at how the health services are now so badly and incompetently managed.
Transport
Transport services were a significant problem, with many parts of rural Ireland having extremely limited services. A particular problem that was highlighted was the lack of transport services to hospitals.
Home help/Nursing Homes
Home help services have been sharply cut back reaching the point where their value becomes questionable. There was a strong sense that many people were inappropriately placed in institutional care because of the lack of a system of community care. Older people generally had an aversion to the idea of going into a nursing home and mMost older people were keen to stay in their own home. Their biggest fear was having to give up their home and independence and move to a nursing home.
Employment and unemployment
Finding work was seen to be a real problem for people in the 50 to 66 age group: Most participants believed that they should have choice over their age of retirement. Those who wished to work past retirement age should be enabled to do so.
Faith and religion
Many people described what had happened to the church in Ireland in recent years as very painful, shocking and disheartening. They commented that since young people had not bought into the church as much, they were less affected by the recent scandals and that they could turn to other churches - ‘they have more options now’.
Assertiveness
Older people do not regard themselves as self-assertive; they explain their docility as inherited from their parents’ generation. An important finding was that older people could find no place or person where they could make complaints about poor public services: the system was incapable of handling, receiving or responding to complaints.
Crime
Security at night was a particular issue, especially for those living alone. Many older people now lived in fear of being attacked on the street or at home. These fears were always more pronounced at night for older people living alone. The absence of a regular Garda presence was seen by some participants to have contributed to levels of anti-social behaviour in towns and villages and a stronger presence, for example by the Garda Volunteer Reserve.
Information on entitlements
Another concern was the interface with the social protection system. Several found the level of information about entitlements to be inadequate, especially about entitlements under special circumstances (e.g. diabetes, death benefits). Several found the forms a big challenge and a few found them impossible.
Fuel poverty
Rural older people are twice as likely to lack central heating than their urban counterparts. The greatest single demand on their income after food was fuel.
