Publications

This statistical report presents the results of the Attitudes of Disabled and Older People to Public Transport Survey that was developed by the Central Statistics and Research Branch (CSRB) in the Department for Regional Development (DRD) (NI)in conjunction with the Inclusive Mobility and Transport Advisory Committee (IMTAC) and carried out between 17th November 2014 and 16th January 2015.  This is the first such report produced by CSRB.  It can be accessed on the DRD website at:

CARDI recently launched a new report Keeping Active for Better Ageing that examines the factors that encourage more physical activity in older adults with a particular focus on potential policy and practice interventions.

The report was compiled by Conor Breen, CARDI Policy Officer.

Read the report here>>

The European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research in Vienna have recently published a new policy brief Active Ageing Index (AAI): A Legacy of the European Year 2012 for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations.

NESTA a UK-based charity recently released a paper which explores the role for impact investment in developing and scaling products to improve the quality of life of people with dementia. It does this by examining areas where there is a need for innovation, promising evidence of impact and market opportunity. The first section of the report discusses the nature of dementia and its social and economic impact. The second section looks at the current policy and market landscape and discusses the market opportunity.

CARDI's e-bulletin provides up-to-date information on ageing research and policy including the latest research and innovation and events and funding. In April 2015 edition top stories include:

• Heart disease and disability in older people
• International Training Programme on Ageing- Call for Applications
• Supporting next generation leaders - workshop
• IAGG-ER 2015: CARDI participation
• Social inclusion and ageing with an intellectual disability

Read CARDI E-bulletin April 2015 here

London has become more adapted to an ageing population in the last seven years, but there is still some way to go before the city can be called ‘age friendly’ according to a recent King’s College London report. The report is a follow-up to a study carried out for the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2006: What makes a city agefriendly?

This paper  from researchers at London School of Economics and Political Science examines whether maternity leave policies have an effect on women's mental health in older age. It links data for women aged 50 years and above from countries in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to data on maternity leave legislation from 1960 onwards. The findings suggest that a more generous maternity leave during the birth of a first child is associated with a reduced score of 0.38 points in the Euro-D depressive symptom scale in old age.

Highlights

Little is known about functional trajectories of older persons in the year before and after admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) or how pre-ICU functional trajectories affect post-ICU functional trajectories and death. This study carried out by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine examined functional trajectories in the year before and after ICU admission and to evaluate the associations among pre-ICU functional trajectories and post-ICU functional trajectories, short-term mortality, and long-term mortality.

Sleep disturbances are most prevalent among older adults and often go untreated. Treatment options for sleep disturbances remain limited, and there is a need for community-accessible programs that can improve sleep. This study by researchers at the University of Southern California and UCLA examined the efficacy of a mind-body medicine intervention, called mindfulness meditation, to promote sleep quality in older adults with moderate sleep disturbances.

This paper from researchers at Humboldt University and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development looks at how socio-cultural contexts have impacted on the experience of ageing.

Looking at two stages of the Berlin Aging Study, the first carried out between 1990 and 1993 and the second between 2013 and 2014, the team made some large-scale assessments of how old-age vitality has changed and put forward some reasons behind changes.