Nationwide Survey on Ageing Begins
Posted on: 16 October 2009
Interviewers now calling to Homes Across the Country for National Ageing Study
The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), starts this week. Interviewers will be calling to people’s homes across the country in the coming weeks, asking questions of those who are 50 and older about their experience of ageing.
By 2036 one in five Irish people will be over 65 years of age; with the greatest increase being in those over 80 years of age. Ageing on this scale is unprecedented in Ireland and will have significant consequences for Ireland’s economy and society. The study will help to solve the many issues our country faces as the population lives longer. TILDA’s academic leader, Professor RoseAnne Kenny, Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Consultant Geriatrician at St James’s Hospital stressed how vital it is that everyone who is asked to participate does so: “Ageing on the scale we will experience in the near future is an unprecedented phenomenon in Irish history. In stark contrast to the evident importance of ageing, there is an acute shortage of social, economic and health information on older persons in Ireland. The data from TILDA will be crucial in filling this gap. TILDA is essential to underpin planning and to ensure a ‘healthy and happy’ life span for the people of Ireland. It is for that reason that we are asking older people to participate in the survey and share their invaluable experience of growing older with interviewers when they call on their homes.”
TILDA is a study of a representative cohort of 8,000 people living in Ireland over the age of 50, charting their health, social and economic circumstances over a 10-year period. It will collect detailed information on all aspects of their lives, including:
– Health dimension – physical, mental, service needs and usage;
– Economic dimension – pensions, employment, income and assets;
– Social dimension – contact with friends and family, formal and informal care, social participation.
Respondents will be interviewed at two yearly intervals so that researchers can gain in-depth insights into the process of ageing. The social interviews will be carried out in respondents’ homes and health assessments will be conducted in the newly opened TILDA Health Assessment Centre at Trinity College Dublin and in University College Cork. These centres are equipped with appropriate equipment for cardiovascular, bone density, visual acuity, cognitive testing among other important medical tests.
Similar studies have been conducted in a number of other countries such as the United States and England and have made important contributions to policy analysis and design. In this way, they have led to major improvements in the pensions and healthcare systems.
TILDA is funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies, Irish Life and the Department of Health and Children. The study will cost €29 million over a ten-year period.
The study is being carried out by Trinity College Dublin in collaboration with an interdisciplinary panel of scientific researchers, with expertise in various fields of ageing, from the Dundalk Institute of Technology, the Economic and Social Research Institute, the National University of Ireland Galway, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University College Cork, University College Dublin and Waterford Institute of Technology.
For further details on TILDA visit www.tilda.ie