Dublin, Ireland, September 30th, 2014 – A new report launched today by the Intellectual Disability Supplement to TILDA (The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing) conducted by academics from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, has highlighted the serious, complex and unique health and social challenges facing Ireland's intellectual disability population.
The IDS-TILDA study is the first study of its kind in Europe and the only one in the world with the ability to compare the ageing of people with intellectual disability directly with the general ageing population.
For the first time in history, people in Ireland with an intellectual disability are growing old in considerable numbers. The IDS-TILDA Wave 2 Report, entitled Advancing Years, Different Challenges, looked at how the ageing process is affecting the physical wellbeing and mental health of the more than 30,000 people in Ireland with an intellectual disability.
Among the key findings from the report which was launched today are a marked increase in the prevalence of dementia for people with Down syndrome, particularly in comparison to the general ageing population; a range of stark findings relating to the levels of genuine connectedness to local communities among even those people with ID who had been moved to more community based residential settings as part of the Irish Government's health policy; and 50% lower rates of hypertension and three times lower rate of heart attack for people with ID compared to the general population despite having a higher risk profile than the general population.
Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences in Trinity and Principal Investigator of IDS-TILDA, Professor Mary McCarron said: "This is the first time in history we have ever had a population of people with an intellectual disability who have reached old age and this is something that we should celebrate. However, there are a number of very serious health concerns that we need to better understand in this population. Unless we can address some of these challenges older people with ID are likely to live a poor quality of life as they grow older and ageing in poor health is an empty prize."
Key Findings
Physical Health:
Social participation and social connectedness:
Professor McCarron said: "The IDS-TILDA report provides the platform to raise the visibility, needs and experiences of people with ID as they grow older. It ensures there is evidence to underpin policy and evaluate how policy actually affects this population so that not only can we ensure that we have added years to life for people with ID as they grow old but also, and critically, that we have added life to years."
She continued: "In terms of social connectedness, our findings show that movement to the community does not necessarily equate with community integration. A change of geographical location in its own right isn't enough. The report confirms that despite often serving a higher functioning and younger population, community group home experiences in terms of community engagement resemble more traditional settings and a renewed effort is needed to ensure that community group homes are organised to support greater levels of genuine integration."
Professor McCarron concluded: "Our findings raise serious concerns for the planned movement from congregated settings of older adults with more severe and profound levels of ID and higher levels of ill health. We promised that movement to the community would improve the quality of people's lives. Unless the community is truly organised and resourced to support ageing people with ID when there are complex health issues, their experience may instead be one of social isolation, loneliness and new forms of institutionalisation."
The full report is available here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/y4hkct5m8p85o1b/IDS-TILDA%20Report%20Wave%202%20September%202014%20-FINAL.pdf?dl=0
IDS-TILDA is funded by the Health Research Board and the Department of Health.
For more information about IDS-TILDA, please visit: http://www.idstilda.tcd.ie/
About IDS-TILDA
The Intellectual Disability Supplement to The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (IDS-TILDA) is a large-scale, nationally representative study of people aged 40 years and over with an intellectual disability (ID) in Ireland. It is the most comprehensive study on ageing in persons with intellectual disability ever carried out in Ireland, and the first of its kind internationally, to be conducted in tandem with a national population study on ageing.
IDS-TILDA will provide much needed data on the health, social, economic and environmental circumstances of 753 people as they grow older and on how their circumstances change over time.