Men and women in their 80s and 90s are as happy – and even as healthy – as people in their 60s were in previous generations. A new survey of more than 1,000 people in the north-east of England aged 85 and over – the largest ever undertaken in Britain—suggests that politicians’ fears that the very elderly will become an expensive burden on the taxpayer, living out their last days in misery and poverty, could be misconceived.
Researchers discovered eight out of ten feel their health is good and does not affect their quality of life. They described NHS services as “excellent” and said they “had nothing to complain about”. Most didn’t want the state to spend a fortune on them, saying: “Spend the money on the young – I have had my time.” Most surprising was the number who had bought their first computer at the age of 80 plus and mastered surfing the internet.
Professor Tom Kirkwood, director of the Institute for Ageing and Health at Newcastle University, said the negative perception of the very elderly needed to be changed. “Our findings show that many preconceptions are unfounded. There are growing numbers of older people who live full and independent lives, contributing a great deal to their communities.”
The groundbreaking survey, funded by the Medical Research Council, is to be used as a new baseline for future research on the very elderly.
