Older People

As the population ages the health and well being of older people and the provision of services to meet their needs becomes increasingly important. There is no agreed definition of older or old people and people differ widely in what they consider to be old. Members of each age band are a very heterogeneous group and age is a very unreliable indicator of state of health or mental or physical capacity of any individual.

However it is also true that the probability of death or of suffering a wide range of health problems and limitations of function increase with increasing age. Any grouping into age band is arbitrary but in order to plan services it is helpful to consider the needs of the different age groups within the population.

The commonest causes of death in those aged 75 years and over are Heart disease, Stroke, Cancer, respiratory disease and Gastro-intestinal disease.

For more information about this topic, please look at the topic on the WMPHO web site.

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