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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Coping with the cold
— exploring relationships between cold housing, health and social wellbeing in a sample of older people in Ireland | | Author(s) | Noelle Cotter, Eugene Monahan, Helen McAvoy, Patrick Goodman |
| Journal title | Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, vol 13, no 1, March 2012 |
| Publisher | Emerald, March 2012 |
| Pages | pp 38-47 |
| Source | www.emeraldinsight.com/journals |
| Keywords | Weather conditions ; Fuel expenditure ; Housing [elderly] ; Health [elderly] ; Ill health ; Well being ; Social surveys ; Ireland. |
| Annotation | Older people are vulnerable to fuel poverty on the island of Ireland. This paper seeks to explore the lived experiences of older people in cold weather, with a view to informing fuel poverty policy and service responses. A postal and online survey of an opportunistic sample of older people living in Ireland, and linked with a range of services or community and voluntary groups was undertaken January-April 2011. Data on the experiences of 722 older people in the cold weather of winter 2010/2011 were analysed in the context of socio-economic, health, and housing circumstances. During the period of extreme cold weather, half of the sample reported that they went without other household necessities, due to the cost of home heating. In general, 62% of those surveyed worried about the cost of home-heating. Homes considered "too cold" were more likely to lack central heating and to experience damp or draughts. Staying indoors, keeping the heating on, having hot food and drink were common responses to cold weather, but a diverse range of behaviours was observed. Associations were observed between living in a cold home and higher levels of chronic illness, falls and loneliness, and fewer social activities. A limitation of this research is that the sample cannot be considered nationally representative: single occupancy and social housing units were over-represented. However, this research found significant associations between living in a cold home or difficulty paying for heating, and aspects of ill-health and social exclusion. While no causal association can be assumed, this phenomenon has implications for policies supporting healthy ageing. (RH) |
| Accession Number | CPA-121221220 A |
| Classmark | R4: J6: KE: CC: CH: D:F:5HH: 3F: 763 |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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