MRC Research Sociologist, MRC Medical Sociolog

 SUMMARY. This study assessed the nature and extent of the risk or disadvantage for 11 subcategories of the elderly population usually referred to as risk groups. Interviews with 619 over-60-year-olds living in Aberdeen were used to score the ‘personal resources’ for coping with difficulties— health, psychological, activity, confidence, support, material resources. Risk profiles have been drawn up and these show substantial variation in both the nature and extent of risk or disadvantage between the groups

Of the 11 groups, we concluded that the isolated, the childless and the never married are probably the Least disadvantaged The recently widowed, those living alone, the poor and those from social class V form an intermediate group with both strengths and weaknesses in terms of risk. The groups at greatest risk are the recently moved, recently discharged divorced/separated and the very old, who all score worse than the whole sample in terms of health and psychological functioning.

Introduction

MOST health professionals which responsibility for the elderly operates on the assumption that some groups are particularly at risk. The most comprehensive listing of such groups is that produced by the World Health Organisation;’

1. The very old (aged 80 years and older).

2. The recently widowed.

3. The never married.

4. Those who are socially isolated (not necessarily those living alone).

5. Those without children.

6. Those in poor economic Circumstances.

In this country, both Arie² and Williamson³⁴ have identified two further groups on the basis of recent changes in their circumstances:

I. Those who have recently been discharged from hospital.

2. Those who have recently changed their dwelling.

Finally’, while they have not yet received much attention from the medical profession, we would like to close the list with two potential risk groups identified by social scientists:⁵

I. The divorced and separated.

2. Those in social class V (Registrar General’s classification).

This study forms the first stage of a longitudinal study of how people cope in later life and provides us with an opportunity to examine critically the extent and nature of risk or disadvantage experienced by each of these 11 risk groups.

Method

The risk profile drawn up for each of the II risk groups was derived from the concept of personal resources’—those reserves which individuals draw upon when coping which difficulties. For the present study, 19 key variables have been selected from the data and arranged into six domains’.

For presentation of the data, all 9 resource variables were standardized to a mean or zero and standard deviation of one.