Can money buy health in old age?

Pensioners often face harsh choices between fuel and food

About 8,000 elderly people in Northern Ireland are to take part in a study on the link between health and wealth.

The survey is one of the largest of its kind to be held in the province and is being organised by Queen's University's Department of Epidemiology.

Principal investigator Dr Dermot O'Reilly said the aim was to establish if alleviating poverty actually improved people's health.

"It has yet to be shown that increased wealth has an impact on health" he said

The "Enrich Study" aims to assess the impact of alleviating poverty on the health of some of Northern Ireland's poorest people.

"We know that poverty is bad for health, but what we want to learn from this study is whether the alleviation of poverty improves health, especially amongst older age groups," said Dr O'Reilly, a senior lecturer in public health.

'Stark choices'

He said many older people were among the poorest in society and often had to make difficult choices every day, such as choosing between food and fuel.

"We realise it is a good thing to reduce poverty, but it has yet to be shown that increased wealth has an impact on health."

Elderly people will be invited to take part in special screenings at their local GP surgery or Citizens Advice Bureau office.

Their entitlement to social security benefits will be assessed by CAB volunteers who will focus on a subset of about 1,000 people who will be eligible for additional benefits.

Researchers will monitor their progress over a year, using a series of health questionnaires to detect changes in their health.

Funding of £291,400 has been provided by the Research and Development Office under the "Investing for Health" initiative.

Last October, the General Consumer Council warned that three quarters of a million people in Northern Ireland could face poverty when they retired.