This chapter explores the extent to which persons aged 65 years and over experience difficulties with personal care or household activities, and the extent to which they receive help with these activities.
Around 12% of persons aged 65 years and over report difficulties with personal care activities, with just over 40% reporting difficulties with household activities. Getting in and out of bed or a chair (personal care) and doing heavy housework (household activity) are the activities older people have the most difficulty with. Persons aged 75 years and over report more difficulties than persons aged 65-74 years and females report more difficulties than males.
Respondents were asked the extent to which they had a difficulty with a range of personal care activities (feeding themselves, dressing, getting out of a bed or chair, bathing / showering, using toilets). Around 1-in-8 (12%) of persons aged 65 years and over reported they have difficulty with at least one personal care activity, with persons aged 75 years and older reporting more difficulties than persons aged 65-74 years - 19% of persons aged 75 years and over compared to 7% of persons aged 65-74 years. More females (14%), aged 65 years and over, than males (10%) reported difficulties with at least one personal care activity. See Table 4.1 and Figure 4.1.
| 65-74 | 75+ | Male | Female | |
| Personal care difficulty | 7 | 19 | 10 | 14 |
At State level, of those who indicated they have difficulty with at least one personal care activity, around two-thirds (66%) of persons aged 65 years and over usually receive help with at least one personal care activity, with men (72%) more likely than females (62%) to receive help. Again, perhaps unsurprisingly, the older cohort of persons aged 75 years and older are more likely to receive help than persons aged 65-74 years, with 72% or persons aged 75 years and older compared to 53% of persons aged 65-74 years receiving help for at least one difficulty with a personal care activity. See Table 4.1.
Irish nationals aged 65 years and over report lower levels of difficulty with a personal care activity than non-Irish - 12% of Irish nationals compared to 16% of non-Irish. See Table 4.1.
Across the range of personal care activities examined - feeding themselves, getting out of bed or a chair, dressing, using toilets and bathing / showering - the personal care activity that generates the most difficulty for persons aged 65 years and over is getting out bed or a chair, with 9% of persons aged 65 years and over reporting Some Difficulty with this. Feeding yourself is the personal care activity that persons aged 65 years and over have the least trouble with, with 98% reporting No Difficulty with feeding themselves. See Table 4.2 and Figure 4.2.
| No difficulty | |
| Difficulty Feeding | 98 |
| Difficulty getting and out of bed or a chair | 91 |
| Difficulty dressing or undressing | 94 |
| Difficulty using toilets | 95 |
| Difficulty bathing or showering | 92 |
Generally, the vast majority of persons aged 65 years and over report No difficulty with the personal care activities examined, with over 90% reporting no such difficulty. There are some differences when the detail of the personal care activities are examined. Difficulty with bathing or showering is the personal care activity which persons aged 65 years and over report the second highest level of difficulty with, with 8% of persons aged 65 years and over reporting Some or A lot of difficulty with this, or Cannot do this activity at all. See Table 4.2.
Respondents were asked the extent to which they have difficulty with the following household activities:
Almost 6-in-10 persons (58%) aged 65 years and over report No difficulty with any household activity as listed above, with more men (62%) then women (55%) reporting No difficulty. The age group 75 years and over report more difficulties (57%) with household activities than those aged 65-74 years (31%). Irish nationals report lower levels of No difficulty with household activities than non-Irish, with 58% of Irish nationals reporting No difficulty compared to two-thirds (66%) of non-Irish. See Table 4.3 and Figure 4.3.
| 65-74 | 75+ | Male | Female | Irish | Non-Irish | |
| No difficulty | 69 | 43 | 62 | 55 | 58 | 66 |
Of those who expressed a difficulty with at least one household activity, almost 6-in-10 (59%) report receiving help with a household activity, with females (63%) more likely than men (54%) to receive help for household activities. Two-thirds (67%) of persons aged 75 years and over, who indicated a difficulty with household activities, report receiving help with the activity, as opposed to almost half (48%) of persons aged 65-74 years. See Table 4.3.
Almost 4-in-10 (37%) persons aged 65 years and over report some degree of difficulty with doing heavy housework, with 10% of persons aged 65 years and over reporting they cannot do heavy housework at all. Doing heavy housework is the activity which generates the most difficulty, with using the telephone the least difficult activity for persons aged 65 years and over. See Table 4.4 and Figure 4.4.
| No difficulty | |
| Difficulty preparing meals | 89 |
| Difficulty using the telephone | 95 |
| Difficulty shopping | 84 |
| Difficulty managing medication | 91 |
| Difficulty doing light housework | 87 |
| Difficulty doing occassional heavy housework | 63 |
| Difficulty taking care of finances and everyday adminsitrative tasks | 89 |
Over 9-in-10 (91%) persons aged 65 years and over report No difficulty with managing their medication, while 6% report that they cannot do shopping at all. As regards preparing meals, 5% of persons aged 65 years and over report Some difficulty with preparing meals, 2% report A lot of difficulty, while 3% report that they cannot prepare meals at all. See Table 4.4.
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