Ageing and Health in Rural Scotland

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Ageing and Health in Rural Scotland

• Professor David Bell
• University of Stirling

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(No Transcript)
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Defining Rural Scotland
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Population Age Profile Scotland 2004
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Population Age Profile Scotland 2024
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Eileen Siar and More Rural Scotland in 2024
Argyll, Borders, Dumfries, Highland, Moray and
the Islands
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Percent Change by Age Group 2004-2024
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Rural Scotland Net Migration by Age Group
Source 2001 Census
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Rural deficits
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Immigration Rates per 1000 Population Scotland
1999/00 to 2003/04
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Rates of Long-Term Limiting Illness 2001
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Housing Tenure and Long-Term Limiting Illness
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(No Transcript)
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General Health
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Rural/Urban Marital Status
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Current Policy Unintended Consequences for Rural
Areas

• Continued expansion of HE
• Implies age-selective migration from rural areas
• Has consequences for economic development in
  rural areas
• And for health and care needs
• The Scottish Enterprise Cities Strategy
• To ensure we maximise our contribution to the
  growth in the Scottish economy we will base our
  planning approach on metropolitan regions.

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But speaking positively

• Older people in Scotlands rural areas are
  healthier
• People want to live in the rural areas
• Some parts of the rural economy are strong e.g.
  Inverness/Stirling/Perth Kinross
• The labour market in rural areas is very flexible
• There will be large numbers of the young old in
  rural Scotland, whose energies can perhaps be
  channelled to deal with the economic and social
  issues arising from population ageing
• We need ways/support for finding innovative
  solutions and then spreading best practice.