Survey finds a small number of older people in the UK have a good quality of life
- 04 Mar
A survey has found that the UK is not planning properly for the number of people living longer and is failing to harness older people's skills.
An ageing population survey, undertaken by the Guardian, has found that only 26% of respondents felt that older people in the UK have a good quality of life. This is compared with 45% of people who don't, and just 28% of people felt their standard of living was good in financial terms with 46% disagreeing.
The survey consisted of 1,250 participants which included carers, professionals who work with older people and older people themselves. Half of the participants said that the outlook for older people had gotten worse over the last year.
A total of 86% and 92% respectively don't feel the NHS and social care are adequately funded. "As the age of the population increases, the strains this places on public services will mean more people needing access to fewer services and without adequate support services people's quality of life will deteriorate," said one respondent, reports the Guardian.
According to Age UK, nearly 900,000 older people now have unmet needs for social care. "You've got a whole substantial group being left to struggle on alone, which seems like a false economy," says Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK. "Without being given early help, people are more likely to develop chronic needs and to need more intensive support, at a greater cost to taxpayers."
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