The opportunity of ageing research

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The opportunity of ageing research

• Launch of the Centre for Ageing
• Research and Development in Ireland
• Dublin 3.4.08
• Professor Anthea Tinker, Institute of
• Gerontology, Kings College London
• anthea.tinker_at_kcl.ac.uk

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Outline of presentation

• 1. Why ageing research is important
• 2. The opportunities it presents
• 3. The challenges it presents
• 4. Some conclusions

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1. Reasons why ageing research is important

• a. Demographic
• b. Economic
• c. Social
• d. Technological
• e. Political

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Why ageing research is important Demographic
reasons

• An ageing population A growing of
• older people. A larger increase for ROI
• 
  
• ROI
  NI
• of total popn 60 2006 15 19
• of total popn 60 2050 32 32
• Source ROI UN (2006), NI Central Statistical
  Office (2006)
• This is the definition for older people used by
  the UN
• Projections

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Why ageing research is important Demographic
reasons

• An ageing population A growing of
• very old people ( of people aged 80
• as of people 60). A larger increase
• in NI
• ROI NI
• 2006 17 19
• 2050 24 34
• Source ROI UN (2006), NI Central Statistical
  Office (2006)
• This is the definition for older people used by
  the UN
• Projections

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Why ageing is important Demographic reasons

• Changing potential support ratios show that
• there will be a decline in people of working
• age to older people.
• Support ratios
• ROI NI
• 2006 17 19
• 2050 2 2
• Source UN (2006) Support ratio is the number of
  people of working age per person 65
• Projections

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Changing support ratios

• The effect of a smaller proportion of people of
  working age
• The burden of pensions
• Smaller numbers of workers to care for a larger
  number of older people
• Should older people be encouraged to stay on in
  the workforce or take on new jobs?

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Older people can return to work in caring
professions
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Why ageing research is important Economic reasons

• - Older people absorb a high of national
• and local budgets. In England 2001-02 average
  costs per person for hospital and community
  health services p.a. were
• Under 5s 1,172
• 5-15 259
• 85 3,315
• average 646
• - There are important employment issues when
  older people retire both for them and for society

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Why ageing research is important Social reasons

• Social reasons include where people live.
• - In ROI nearly half of older people live in
  rural areas
• compared with one third in NI.
• Research can show both where older people live
  and their wishes for the future (e.g. different
  kinds of housing including new patterns of
  living)
• Family patterns are important too. Research can
  help establish both the need for care and who is
  available to give it (e.g. the effect of
  cohabitation and divorce)

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Why ageing research is importantTechnological
reasons

• Developments in technology will have great
  implications for older people (e.g falls
  detectors)
• A new generation of older people will be much
  more used to technology
• Technology may improve the lives of older people
  with dementia and their carers (e.g. passive
  alarms)

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Why ageing research is important Political
reasons

• The growing importance of larger numbers of older
  people as voters
• Growing attention to the importance of older
  people being more involved in decision making
  (e.g. the European Year of Older People in 1994
  and the subsequent setting up of the Irish Senior
  Citizens Parliament in 1996)
• But note that the average age for most MPs is
  relatively high

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2. The opportunities presented by ageing research

• The opportunities to change policies in the light
  of research e.g. long term care
• The greater likelihood of funding e.g. from
  government departments and research councils
• The chance to be involved in international
  projects e.g. the Irish Longitudinal Research on
  Ageing (TILDA) research
• The chance to do more multidisciplinary research
  (see next slide)

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The opportunities presented by ageing research
(ctd)

• The chance to improve services for older people
  (note especially Atlantic Philanthropies as
  funders of both services and research). Note
  their aims across the world which include
  ensuring that older adults
• Are treated with dignity and respect
• Are fully empowered to shape their own destinies
• Have excellent health and support systems
• Have representation by a stronger cadre of
  leaders
• Are able to contribute their expertise, wisdom
  and abilities to society
• In my view Atlantic has been a catalyst for
  important
• initiatives although this is not to belie what
  others
• have done.

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2. The opportunities presented by ageing
research (ctd)

• The opportunities to learn from each other in the
  2 countries (e.g. the development of end of life
  care in ROI and advocacy in NI)
• Pragmatically the possibility of attracting
  researchers from other parts of the world
  (including wooing back of researchers from the
  UK)
• The chance to do more multidisciplinary research
  (see next slide)

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The opportunities for multidisciplinary research

• The different disciplines each contribute a
  perspective which together makes up a whole
• Some topics such as falls need approaches from
  different disciplines such as medical,
  environmental, psychological
• Complementary skills can be used
• It is stimulating for researchers

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3. The challenges presented by ageing research

• There is more interest in children on the whole
  than older people both in policy terms and
  research (e.g. compare child abuse with elder
  abuse)
• Historically an under funded area of research
• Most research in the past has been medical

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The challenge of multidisciplinary research

• It is time consuming
• There are different languages
• There are different methodologies
• May be different locations
• Professionals may not appreciate each others
  approaches
• There may be problems of status

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Similarities between multidisciplinary research
and that between North and South in Ireland?

• There are wonderful opportunities
• There may also be potential problems which need
  to be addressed such as the greater time and
  costs of working together

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Some conclusions

• Ageing research is here to stay
• There is great value in co-ordination of the type
  that CARDI is designed to provide
• There are still many questions which need
  answering e.g. the differences between the way
  men and women age
• We can all learn from each other (but it is just
  as important to share failures as it is successes
  and we need the courage to do that).

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Some conclusions

• Intergenerational links have never been needed
  more and ageing research can contribute to that
• Older people are more likely in the future to
  have a bigger say in what is researched and how
  it is to be done (e.g. as exemplified in Age and
  Opportunitys Strategy Plan 2006-2008). This
  should be embraced.