€10 million funding for research on ageing
The HRB will award and manage a new €10 million contract for TILDA, The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, on behalf of the Department of Health.
TILDA, led by Prof Rose Anne Kenny in Trinity College Dublin, collects information on many aspects of health, economic and social circumstances among the ageing population. This provides a critical source of evidence to help practitioners, policy makers and planners to understand the ageing populations changing and growing needs over time.
It is expected that by 2021, 14% of the Irish population will be age 65+ and by 2031 this age group will represent one in five Irish citizens. Understanding the health, social and economic implications of this is important.
Dr Mairead O’Driscoll, Interim Chief Executive at the Health Research Board said,
‘If our future health services are going to meet the needs of an ageing population, we need a picture of what it will look like. TILDA has made great advances in recent years to help understand the health, social and economic aspects of ageing. What we need to do is ensure this evidence informs policy and practice. As part of managing this renewed government investment of €10 million, the Health Research Board will actively work with TILDA and the Department of Health to set up a dedicated Knowledge Translation Group. The aim will be to make sure that we ask the right questions to inform future health needs and that the data gathered reaches the right people to underpin changes in policy and practice’.
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