Elderly drinkers in the West Country are a “time-bomb”

The West Country is experiencing growing numbers of elderly people with drinking problems. As many as one in five elderly men and one in ten women of the same age are drinking enough to cause ill-health. This represents a rise of 40% in men and 100% in women during the last 20 years.

It is thought that cheaper and more available alcohol is the main problem. 20 years ago alcohol was relatively expensive and scarcer in rural communities. Another problem is possibly caused by changes in society, with elderly people becoming more isolated from family life and community, leading to loneliness and depression.

Ageing population

The West Country is also experiencing an ageing population. People are living longer and many youngsters are moving out of the region to seek employment in urban areas. This means that around one in four people in the South West will be over the age of 65 years within 20 years.

Jez Bayes, the alcohol strategy lead for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, spoke about alcohol and its problems in the older community: “It’s now available pretty much 24/7; if you got back 30 or 40 years ago, it was at pubs, it was social, it was much more expensive relative to the cost of living,” he said.

Older people become more sensitive to the effects of alcohol; for example, they tend to lose their balance quicker. Falls are a leading cause of death for people over the age of 75 years in the UK. This increase in the number of elderly people drinking by themselves is very concerning.