Elderly people ‘facing prejudice in healthcare and social services’

AGEISM in Ireland’s health and social services is a reality, with older people suffering prejudice and discrimination regularly, a report yesterday found.

The study for the National Council on Ageing and Older People (NCAOP) found “concrete examples of prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory practices” experienced by elderly people or witnessed by health and social care providers. The council said it was beyond the scope of the study to discover the exact scale of ageism encountered by older people in Irish health and social services, but said it was a first step towards auditing age discrimination.

The research, which drew on interviews with 456 older people and 150 healthcare staff, found older people were afraid of becoming ill, being a burden on their families, having to go into institutional care and having a lack of money.