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13/04/2005
QUB study to examine wealth and health issues in the elderly
A major new study examining the impact of wealth on the lives of elderly people in Northern Ireland is to be carried out by Queen's University.
The ‘Enrich Study’ aims to assess the impact of alleviating poverty on the health of some of the poorest people in the Province.
Principal investigator Dr Dermot O'Reilly, who is a senior lecturer in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, said the project is one of the largest of its kind to take place in Northern Ireland.
"We know that poverty is bad for health, but what we want to learn from this study is whether the alleviation of poverty improves health, especially amongst older age groups,” Dr O’Reilly said.
The study aims to target elderly people throughout Northern Ireland and around 8,000 people over the age of 70 will be invited to participate in the study, which began recently. Patients will be asked to attend special screening sessions in their local GP surgery or local CAB office.
Their entitlement to Social Security Benefits will be assessed by Citizen Advice volunteers, who will then focus on a subset – about 1,000 people, who will be eligible for additional benefits.
Once they have been identified, researchers will continually monitor their progress over a 12 month period through a series of health questionnaires to detect changes in their health and use of health services.
(MB)
The ‘Enrich Study’ aims to assess the impact of alleviating poverty on the health of some of the poorest people in the Province.
Principal investigator Dr Dermot O'Reilly, who is a senior lecturer in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, said the project is one of the largest of its kind to take place in Northern Ireland.
"We know that poverty is bad for health, but what we want to learn from this study is whether the alleviation of poverty improves health, especially amongst older age groups,” Dr O’Reilly said.
The study aims to target elderly people throughout Northern Ireland and around 8,000 people over the age of 70 will be invited to participate in the study, which began recently. Patients will be asked to attend special screening sessions in their local GP surgery or local CAB office.
Their entitlement to Social Security Benefits will be assessed by Citizen Advice volunteers, who will then focus on a subset – about 1,000 people, who will be eligible for additional benefits.
Once they have been identified, researchers will continually monitor their progress over a 12 month period through a series of health questionnaires to detect changes in their health and use of health services.
(MB)
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