Annex A: Breakdown of the 9% of older adults who report unmet needs for care, support and help with everyday living

This analysis shows that nearly one in ten older adult respondents in 2023-24 reported unmet support needs. This chapter provides another way of describing this group of older adults who reported unmet needs by breaking them down into different sub-groups that add to 100%. As can be seen from the tables below:

• Over 90% of those who reported unmet needs for support with everyday living were disabled. 58% of those with reported unmet needs were limited a lot by their disability (Table 1).
• The majority (66%) of those who reported unmet needs for support with everyday living indicated they were not receiving any funded support (Table 2). 37% were receiving only “unfunded support”, and a further 30% were not receiving any support despite feeling they needed it.

• 40% of those who reported unmet needs had received help with personal tasks (Table 3).

Table 1: Older adults who were “limited a lot” by a disability comprised the majority of those who reported unmet support needs.

Table showing the distribution of adults aged 65+ living in Scotland in 2023-24 who indicated they had an unmet need by the level of limitation they reported to their daily activities resulting from a disability.

Table 2: The largest group of older adults to report an unmet need were those who reported that they had received “unfunded support only” (meaning self-funded or family-funded care, or unpaid care)

Table showing the distribution of adults aged 65+ living in Scotland in 2023-24 who indicated they had an unmet need by whether or not they received support, and whether or not this support included funded support (i.e. state-funded or charity-funded support).

Table 3: 40% of older adults who reported an unmet need said that they had received “help with personal tasks” as part or all of their care

Table showing the distribution of adults aged 65+ living in Scotland in 2023-24 who indicated they had an unmet need by whether or not they received support, and whether or not this support included help with personal tasks.