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39
CARE OF THE ELDERLY
The following are contributions from the various members of the
Staff dealing with the services provided for old persons, commencing
with details of the Pilot Survey of the elderly in Walthamstow.
pilot survey of the elderly in walthamstow
In order to form an estimate of the total number of elderly
people in Walthamstow, especially those living alone, and to
determine the proportion needing help from the Health and Welfare
Services a survey has been carried out by the Health Visiting staff.
All houses in streets whose names commence with the letter 'E'
were visited representing a random sample of approximately 3 1/3 %
of the total inhabited dwellings. Assuming that this sample, drawn
from all districts in the town, is fairly representative, the
ascertained numbers when multiplied.by a factor of 30 gives an
approximation of the total population in the various groups.
The survey, although much more time-consuming than was at first
expected, has proved most illuminating. Not only will the data
obtained be very valuable in planning any extensions to existing
services but it has disclosed a number of cases where practical help,
needed now, has been provided and a much large number where the need
for assistance will almost certainly arise in the near future. All
these cases are being kept under observation by means of follow-up
visits.
The number of people of pensionable age found by the survey was
368. Of these 252 were women and 116 men. The estimate for the total
number of pensioners is therefore 368 x 30 = 11,040, representing
almost 10 per cent of the population of the town, with a percentage
distribution of sex and age groups as follows:-
60-64 65-70 71-80 81-90 90+
yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs.
Women 11.4 21.4 25 9 1.63 - 67.43
Men - 13.6 13.6 4.1 0.27 - 31.57
99%
Of the 368 interviewed 97 women (26%) and 16 men (14%) were
living alone but an encouraging factor was that in only two cases
(both ladies 71-80) were they without effective relatives or friends,
Less satisfactory is the fact that only 39 of the 368 were previously
known to the health visitors with another 7 who were receiving help
from other agencies.
62 (17%) needed help of some kind and 52 were already receiving
it, in 33 cases from the Health Department and in 19 from other
agencies. As a result of the survey new or additional help was
provided for 45 cases, in 34 of them direct by the Department and in
11 through other agencies. (NOTE - Because of this duplication the
figures for help provided do not agree with the other totals in the
attached table).