Madam, - Hayden Shaughnessy's article on the improved health and longevity of older people (Life Features, March 28th) was a helpful antidote to the often negative perceptions of ageing. Our society is fortunate that so many of us will live into what the French call the third and fourth ages, increasingly with better health than previous generations.
However, we would like to reassure readers that the lack of data on the health of older Irish people alluded to in the article is being addressed. The first Irish longitudinal study on ageing - HESSOP-2 - supported the encouraging messages outlined in the article, but also showed where patterns of increases in care were likely to occur.
This study, funded by the Health Research Board, also showed that older people are creative in their strategies for later life and are not just passive recipients of care. Of particular significance is the contribution that they themselves bring to their own care: it was notable that over a four-year sampling period (2000-2004) there was a marked increase in the amount that older people spent on purchasing health and social care, despite increases in access to services during that period, such as free GP care for over-70s. Over 8 per cent of people in this study were themselves the primary carer for another family member. Both of these facts should help to erode the common view of dependency as the defining feature of later life for all older people.
It is only through such longitudinal studies that we can gain an accurate picture of the contribution and needs of older Irish people - ourselves as we age. Fortunately, a larger and longer study is now under way, the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, led by Trinity College Dublin with participation from several other Irish academic institutions. This will provide the vitally important data needed not only to plan health and social policy and services, but also to understand the lives of older Irish people in the 21st century. - Yours, etc,
Prof HANNAH McGEE, Population Health Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons; Prof DESMOND O'NEILL, Department of Medical Gerontology, Trinity College Dublin.