{"id":3917,"date":"2020-02-11T14:59:26","date_gmt":"2020-02-11T14:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/?p=3917"},"modified":"2020-03-09T08:35:53","modified_gmt":"2020-03-09T08:35:53","slug":"ageing-in-ireland-in-a-new-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/your-later-life\/ageing-in-ireland-in-a-new-decade\/","title":{"rendered":"Ageing in Ireland in a new decade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-profile-box round ab-has-avatar ab-font-size-14 ab-block-profile ab-profile-columns\"><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-avatar-wrap\"><div class=\"ab-profile-image-wrap\"><figure class=\"ab-profile-image-square\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-3943\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2020\/02\/07211307\/P2-Irish-Gerontological-Society-Headshot-Pres.-D.-OShea.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2020\/02\/07211307\/P2-Irish-Gerontological-Society-Headshot-Pres.-D.-OShea.jpg 250w, https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2020\/02\/07211307\/P2-Irish-Gerontological-Society-Headshot-Pres.-D.-OShea-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Dr Diarmuid O&#8217;Shea<\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Consultant Geriatrician and President, The Irish Gerontological Society<\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>While there is no specific age at which one is &#8216;old&#8217; or &#8216;young&#8217;, it is a fact that populations are getting older. Ageing populations will influence health and social systems in multiple ways. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nemerging issues associated with population ageing impact health, economic and social\nsystems in our own country.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ageing\npopulations will influence social and health systems in multiple ways,\nincluding the need to increase spend and address management of chronic illness\nand disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Ireland, recent CSO figures show that the percentage of the population aged over 65 will increase from 13.3% in 2016 to 18.1% by 2031 and 24.6% by 2051. It is predicted that those over the age of 65 in Ireland will reach one million by 2031 and those over 80 will increase by 270% by 2051. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>An\nolder population can bring challenges to the health system needed to support\nthem<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This\nsignificant change in ageing demographics is a global phenomenon. This success\nchallenges us all, as these additional lifespan years are not always lived in\ngood health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chronic\nconditions, such as heart disease, stroke, dementia, respiratory diseases, diabetes,\ncancer, Parkinson\u2019s disease, osteoporosis, falls, and frailty are among the conditions\naffecting ageing populations. They are among the reasons a comprehensive public\nhealth action on ageing is urgently needed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>We need a culture that upholds dignity, respect and compassion for each other over the course of our lives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Working\ntogether is the key<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Older\npeople, policy makers, clinicians and health professionals must engage proactively\nin conversations around awareness, prevention, symptoms, solutions and\ntreatments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interdisciplinary,\ncross-specialty, cross community engagement and collaboration are key in ensuring\nthat society, health and social care services become and remain fit for\npurpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\nare many examples of this excellence at work already in Ireland. The Royal\nCollege of Physicians of Ireland (through the clinical programmes, training and\neducation), in conjunction with the HSE, play a critical role. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They\nprovide the vision and clinical leadership for managing chronic diseases and\nageing well, along with the many voluntary organisations like ALONE, the\nAlzheimer\u2019s Society, the Irish Gerontological Society and the many other\nvoluntary societies around our country.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Innovations\nmust translate to improvements for older people<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We\nall live and work in a complex and changing world. Digital literacy has become\na requirement for participation in most day to day activities. We must ensure\nthat our online, digital, and cloud-dominated tech-world is accessible to all,\nnot just the young. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Innovations\nin treatments and technologies \u2013 in particular in the growing field of\ngerontechnology \u2013 must be translated into improvements in the wellbeing, health\nand care of older people, and support for us all to age well at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\nhave a wonderful opportunity in Ireland to lead the charge and change in\nsupport for all us as we age. We all want to age well. As a country\nwe&nbsp;must&nbsp;strive to become an Ireland that leads the world in becoming\nage-attuned, age-accommodating and age-friendly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To\ndo this we need a culture that upholds dignity, respect and compassion for each\nother over the course of our lives. We also need support to live well into old\nage, and timely access to supports if and when we need them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While we each have a personal responsibility, there is also a shared&nbsp;societal and governmental policy responsibility. These are all interconnected. Progress cannot happen unless we all work together.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"color:#32373c;background-color:#63cde0\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-notice ab-font-size-16 ab-block-notice\" data-id=\"5e5432\"><div class=\"ab-notice-text\" style=\"border-color:#63cde0\"><p>The Irish Gerontological Society will host a unique symposium on Friday April 24th, 2020 &#8211; Gerontechnology &#8211; the Future is now, taking place in the Education Centre at St. Vincent\u2019s University Hospital Dublin. Speakers and delegates will discuss how older people can use and avail of technology to help them remain independently at home and improve how they might, in the future, self-manage chronic illnesses. We aim to broaden all our horizons, and initiate, inform and advance a national conversation around the important role technology can play in an ageing society.  <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While there is no specific age at which one is &#8216;old&#8217; or &#8216;young&#8217;, it is a fact that populations are getting older. Ageing populations will influence health and social systems in multiple ways. The emerging issues associated with population ageing impact health, economic and social systems in our own country.&nbsp; Ageing populations will influence social &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/your-later-life\/ageing-in-ireland-in-a-new-decade\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":3945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4048],"tags":[4489],"class_list":["post-3917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-your-later-life","tag-your-later-life-2020"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2020\/02\/07211306\/GettyImages-1034555530-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2020\/02\/07211306\/GettyImages-1034555530-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Health Awareness","author_link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/author\/jennyhyndman\/"},"vicky_index_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3917"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4456,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3917\/revisions\/4456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}