Being old in Ireland: a fit state?

This is a cross-sectional, interview-based study profiling the health-status, functional ability and patterns of service use of an age-stratified random sample of 766 people over 70. Of 495 respondents (response rate 64.4%), 65% (n=324) rated their health as good/very good/excellent, 36% (n=180) reported long-term illness, 17% (n=82) had a moderate/severe disability. Of those living alone, 68.7% (n=125/182) were female, 39.6% (n=72/182) were over-80, 28.7% (n=51/178) had no fire alarm, 58.9 % (n=102/173) had no panic alarm. Of those who do not have a car, 66.3% (n=174/262) rely mainly on friends/family for transport. 40.7% (n=24/59) of respondents with moderate/severe disability reported no state-provided home-help. Despite much good news, a substantial vulnerable minority of older people would benefit from additional support: rural transport schemes and smoke alarm schemes should be extended; a formal needs assessment of homecare needs of older people should be considered; numbers of community therapists and access to home-help should be increased.