Scottish Ageing Study

The first ever long-term ageing study to improve the lives of the elderly in Scotland is underway.

There are currently two million people over the age of 50 here, they make up 38% of the population. The University of Stirling-led Healthy Ageing In Scotland will chart the changes in the health and social circumstances of 1, 000 people over the next decade. 8, 000 people will be taking part by 2018. The aim is to chart changes in their health and social circumstances over the decades, reporting every two years. The multi-partner HAGIS project team includes the Universities of Strathclyde and Edinburgh.

Stirling Professor of Economics David Bell, from the Stirling Management School, said: “People in Scotland are now living longer and the size of our older population is increasing. But historically we have a relatively poor health record and high levels of income inequality exist.

“We want to build a picture of what life is like for our over-50s. By taking part in HAGIS, older people in Scotland can inform the design and implementation of policies and services affecting them. The study is part of Scotland’s contribution to international ageing research and knowledge with the ultimate aim of promoting long, happy and healthy lives.”

Its findings will help to address questions such as how individuals plan for retirement and who is providing care for our elderly population. It will include memory tasks and ascertain respondents’ understanding of financial concepts.

HAGIS joins a worldwide network of ageing studies co-ordinated by the US National Institute on Aging (NIA) and will be compared with findings from across the UK and around the world.

Dr Ken Langa, Associate Director of the NIA-funded Health and Retirement Study, said: “The Scottish HAGIS study will be an extremely valuable and important new member of the growing worldwide network of longitudinal ageing studies, uncovering the unique health and social circumstances currently experienced by Scotland’s ageing population.

“Our experience of a longitudinal study in America has shown that combining the different types of data that HAGIS will collect provides a detailed picture that can inform health and social policies aimed at improving the lives of older adults and their families.”

A wider steering group also has experts representing the Universities of Dundee and Essex, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the Institute for Social and Economic Research, the NHS and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

The pilot study is jointly funded by the National Institute on Ageing (NIA) of the United States, and the Nuffield Foundation.