Preparing for Life Northside Partnership

Outline of Presentation 1 What is Preparing for Life (PFL)? 2 Design and delivery of PFL 3 Researching PFL 4 Conducting an RCT in a community setting 5 Making research and implementation work together cohesively 6 Benefits of working together 7 What have we learned  

Executive Summary: Healthy Diet v Dietary Supplementation: improving physical fitness and quality of life in older people

Older people have the greatest barriers (mostly in terms of ability/opportunity) to participating in exercise, and thus have the highest incidence of decreased ease in carrying out tasks of daily living. In an ageing society, the negative effects of age on skeletal muscle performance would be reduced if compliance to exercise regimens could be encouraged through simple advice on timing, duration, frequency, intensity, as well as appropriate nutritional interventions. Research into the impact of optimal nutrition/diet supplementation in young and/or athletic populations is extensive. Such data are scarce when considering healthy, older populations. We therefore propose to investigate the impact of healthy eating habits with or without supplementation, on exercise responsiveness. This protocol seeks to maximise training benefits on the neural muscular and tendinous complexes.

Mortality target monitoring (life expectancy and all-age all-cause mortality, overall and inequalities)

The latest annual update on life expectancy data and all age all cause mortality rates, with data updated to 2006-08, which are used to monitor progress against Department of Health targets for overall life expectancy in England, and for the gap in life expectancy between the areas with the worst health and deprivation indicators (the Spearhead group) and the England average, was released on 5th November 2009 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority. �� The key points from the latest release are: �� - The overall life expectancy and all age all cause mortality (AAACM) trends for both males and females are broadly on course to deliver the target of 78.6 years for men and 82.5 years for women by 2010 (2009-11). �� - In 2006-08, life expectancy at birth in England continued to increase for both males and females, and reached its highest level on record at 77.7 years for males and 81.9 years for females. �� - Three-year average AAACM rates for England have fallen in each period since 1995-97. �� - In 2006-08, average life expectancy at birth in the Spearhead Group was 75.8 years for males and 80.4 years for females, having increased in each period since 1995-97. �� - However, England average life expectancy at birth has increased more quickly over this period, and, in 2006-08, the relative gap ��� i.e. percentage difference - in life expectancy at birth between England and the Spearhead Group was wider than at the baseline for the target (1995-97) for both males and females. �� - For males the relative gap was 7% wider than at the baseline (compared with 4% wider in 2005-07), for females 14% wider (compared with 11% wider in 2005-07).�� �� Therefore, the target to narrow the life expectancy gap between the Spearhead Group and the England average, by at least 10% by 2010, remains challenging.��Three-year average AAACM rates for the Spearhead Group have fallen in each period since 1995-97 for both males and females. Download Mortality target monitoring (life expectancy and all-age all-cause mortality, overall and inequalities): update to include data for 2008 (PDF, 683K)Download pre-release access list (PDF, 10k)��

Trends in world inequality in life span since 1970

The trends in the variance of length of life, and in the variance of length of adult life in particular, are not well understood, while world inequality in length of adult life has remained stagnant. This��research��from the National Bureau of Economic Research (US)��examines life-span inequality in a broad, balanced panel of 180 rich and poor countries observed in 1970 and 2000. While the share of inequality within countries has decreased over time, inequalities between different countries have unambiguously increased. �� ��

End of life care standards for people with dementia

End of life care standards for people with dementiaThis project, funded under Call 1 of CARDI’s Grants Programme and led by Dr Suzanne Cahill, School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin, highlights the need for guaranteed standards of care for older people with dementia at the end of their lives.The research recommends the introduction of standards as a matter of urgency because of the huge increases in the number of people affected, and the number likely to be affected in the future. It is estimated that the number of people with dementia in the Republic of Ireland will rise from 44,000 to 104,000 by 2036 and in Northern Ireland from 16,000 to 47,000 in 2051.The research draws attention to the importance of agreeing new standards in Ireland, North and South, by proposing guidelines to develop policies and practices that can reflect the best available throughout the world.Research Team:•������ Dr Suzanne Cahill, School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin•������ Ms Daphne Doran, Quality Initiatives, Belfast•������ Dr Max Watson, University of Ulster and Northern Ireland HospiceResearch briefingFull report��

Multimorbidity in the older population: CARDI research brief

New research funded by the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI) finds that people suffering from two or more chronic conditions are 20 times more likely to report disability than those with none. The study examines the prevalence of two or more chronic conditions, known as multimorbidity, and its impact on quality of life and disability in older people. The research Multimorbidity and Disability in the Older Population of Ireland, studied eight chronic conditions: cancer; heart attack; angina; stroke; diabetes; asthma; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and musculoskeletal pain (including rheumatism, arthritis and back pain). Musculoskeletal pain was the most widely reported condition across the island with a prevalence of 40%, followed by diabetes (7%) and angina (6%). Asthma and COPD have the same levels of prevalence, 5%, while cancer and stroke were reported less frequently (1-2%). The study also revealed some clear differences in the prevalence of chronic diseases between ROI and NI. Angina was reported far more frequently in NI, 10% compared to 4% in ROI. So too was musculoskeletal pain, 55% compared to 35% in ROI while asthma was reported more frequently in ROI, 6% compared to 3% in NI.

Medication use in patients with end of life dementia:Presentations

CARDI recently launched a new report (Friday 6 July 2012) which finds considerable uncertainty and variation in the medicines doctors say they would prescribe for patients with dementia at the end of life when presented with clinical scenarios. The all-Ireland research, led by a team at QUB, finds evidence that GPs and hospital physicians indicate they would continue with dementia medications and statins and actively prescribe antibiotics when there is limited evidence of benefits to patients with dementia at end of life.Links to presentations are below:Assessment of factors which influence decision-making regarding medication use in patients with dementia at the end of life: Prof Carmel HughesMedication use in patients with end of life dementia: Dr Shaun O'Keefe