Age UK finds that health needs of half of older people are affected by cost-of-living crisis
The charity Age UK is urging the public to keep supporting the older people in their lives and to stay in touch to ensure they are managing to keep warm and eat well, despite soaring prices.
Age UK’s most recent research into how people aged 60 and over were feeling about the coming winter showed that 54 per cent of older people say the cost-of-living increase will affect their health and care needs with 52 per cent of older people “concerned or very concerned” about winter.
In particular, of the people who took part in the survey, 20 per cent of older people are worried that they will not be able to eat enough while 45 per cent of older people are worried that they won’t be able to heat their home enough.
With energy bills rocketing Age UK stated that it is understandable that many older people might think they have no option but to turn their heating off this winter. Its polling showed that 62 per cent of older people have had to cut back on heating or powering their home recently to make ends meet.
Prolonged exposure to cold temperatures can have a substantial impact on older people’s health, Age UK states, as it becomes harder for their bodies to regulate temperature, and it takes longer to warm up as they lose muscle mass. Their immune systems become weaker, and symptoms of health conditions such as asthma, diabetes and arthritis can be worsened by the cold.
The cold also impacts on the heart and circulatory system increasing risks of heart attacks and strokes. People with mental health conditions or dementia, which may reduce a person’s ability to look after themselves, can also be at more risk from the cold weather.
Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s Charity Director, said: “We know that rising energy prices will put nearly a third of older households in fuel poverty this winter, meaning older people in approaching 3 million homes will be worrying about how to keep warm as temperatures plummet this week.
“Unfortunately increases in the cost of living are coming hard on the heels of the pandemic, which severely undermined the health and wellbeing of many older people. And now some are telling us they simply don’t know how they will get through the difficult months to come. This really is shaping up to be a winter from hell.
“During the winter older people are likely to spend more time at home than other age groups and are much more susceptible to the effects of the cold, particularly if they have pre-existing medical conditions. That’s why it’s so important that they can adequately heat their homes, helping them to stay well.
“The winter can have an adverse impact on older people’s mental health too. Darker, shorter days and less socialising place older people at greater risk of loneliness and isolation, which in turn can cause new mental health conditions like anxiety and depression to develop, as well as exacerbating any existing ones.
“So as winter bites it is important to take action to protect yourself if you are an older person, and it’s a reminder to the rest of us to look out for the older people in our lives.”
