A new report, co-authored by Trinity academics, highlights increased levels of public satisfaction with the services at Tallaght University Hospital but that a lack of mental health services is leading to increasing levels of stress and psychological ill health—particularly in deprived areas.
Commissioned by the Meath Foundation and presented at the annual Meath Research Symposium at Tallaght University Hospital, the study, Physical and Mental Health in Post-Recession Ireland: A Community Study from Tallaght, Dublin, surveyed over 350 homes and found carer burden to be the single largest factor impacting on wellbeing in the area.
Despite improved employment levels generally, 66% of people in deprived areas experienced stress over the last 12 months compared to just over 55% in less deprived areas. It also found that people with less stress were more likely to own private health insurance, be better educated and were less likely to be living with a person with a chronic illness or disability. However, over half of households surveyed (54%) included a person with a chronic illness. Better physical and mental health are both significantly associated with not living with a person with chronic illness.
