{"id":9852,"date":"2025-09-09T12:22:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T12:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/9852\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T12:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T12:22:07","slug":"loneliness-powerful-factor-in-health-of-older-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/9852\/","title":{"rendered":"Loneliness ‘powerful factor’ in health of older people"},"content":{"rendered":"

Loneliness has emerged as a persistent and powerful factor influencing the health and wellbeing of older adults, according to Trinity College Dublin’s Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).<\/p>\n

The study tracked how loneliness has affected older adults in Ireland over 14 years, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Despite being quite static over time, a significant proportion of older adults experience loneliness, according to the report.<\/p>\n

The report said Ireland is one of the fastest ageing countries in Europe, with the population aged 65 and over projected to double by 2051.<\/p>\n

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\nThe report found a significant proportion of older adults remain undiagnosed for certain conditions<\/p>\n

It notes that the demographic shift will place increasing pressure on public services particularly health and social care and will require significant planning and adaptation.<\/p>\n

Drawing on 14 years of longitudinal data from over 8,000 adults aged 50 and older, the new report highlights widespread unmet need in key health areas.<\/p>\n

A significant proportion of older adults remain undiagnosed or under-treated for key conditions including hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression, and chronic pain.<\/p>\n

It also offers a comprehensive view of how ageing affects older adults over time, and the evidence supports the paradox that women live longer but experience more health-related decline.<\/p>\n

TILDA also examined the emotional and mental health impacts of caregiving and makes the case for stronger policy supports to reduce caregiver strain and improve wellbeing.<\/p>\n

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\nThe study also looked at the mental health impacts of caregiving on caregivers<\/p>\n

Carers who provide more than 50 hours of care each week report poorer mental health and reduced overall wellbeing, highlighting the emotional strain of high-intensity caregiving.<\/p>\n

The report has uncovered the complex interplay of biology, behaviour, and environment that shapes the aging process according to Life Course Development and Ageing at Trinity Professor Cathal McCrory.<\/p>\n

He said that by tracking the same individuals over time, TILDA has distinguished typical patterns of aging from those that are atypical and potentially concerning.<\/p>\n

“This report highlights that ageing is not a unidimensional process of decline, but a diverse and dynamic experience that involves growth, adaptation, resilience and vulnerability.<\/p>\n

“These insights provide an essential evidence base for designing policies that optimise the health, wellbeing, and opportunities of older people in Ireland,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Loneliness has emerged as a persistent and powerful factor influencing the health and wellbeing of older adults, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-9852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}