Individual treatment rather than group treatment might also be a better choice. Research supports involving clients with SUDs in treatment decision-making processes.539 In some cases, matching clients’ substance-related treatment preferences has led to improved outcomes.540 However, shared decision making in the context of SUDs can be challenging. Clients who have SUDs may have mixed feelings about whether they can, or even want to, stop using substances. Knowing how to keep older adults interested and willing participants in the screening and assessment process (e.g., knowing what to say to older clients and how to say it). Screen and assess clients for factors that increase the odds of misuse and addiction.
Treating Substance Use Disorder in Older Adults
But it’s more common among this age group in the U.S. than almost anywhere else. It’s especially dangerous because their bodies don’t process drugs as quickly as when they were younger. Recognizing that loss and transition are a normal part of aging and helping your older clients identify the losses and transitions specific to them. If appropriate to your role and setting, sustaining long-term supportive contact with them, with the emphasis on helping them maintain stability in recovery and better health and wellness.
Conducting Brief Assessments and Interventions
It’s essential for family members and health care providers to be aware of this risk factor so they can take steps to prevent it in their loved ones. Perhaps the most critical tasks for older adults who misuse substances are to achieve stability and maintain ongoing recovery. Sustaining recovery is challenging without a sense of health and well-being, especially for older adults with co-occurring mental disorders or multiple chronic illnesses.
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) Releases
It then examines strategies for promoting wellness, illness self-management and relapse prevention approaches, and strategies for promoting resilience and empowerment relevant to older adults in recovery from substance misuse. Many communities have befriending programs that send “friendly vanderburgh house visitors”—who are trained volunteers—to the homes of older adults who have no close ties to neighbors or nearby relatives, or who are homebound. Visitors spend an hour or two a week with older adults to provide companionship, friendship, and linkage to health and wellness resources.
Bupropion, varenicline, and nicotine replacement are options for nicotine dependence. Find out how NIMH engages a range of stakeholder organizations as part of its efforts to ensure the greatest public health impact of the research we support. Experts recommend that older people have no more than seven alcoholic drinks per week. If further exploration is needed, focus the conversation with the client on items marked “no.” For example, if the client marks “no” on the item about exercise, you might start with a nonjudgmental observation like “I noticed that you normally don’t exercise more than twice a week. Tell me more about what you do for exercise.” This will open a conversation about physical activity and the client’s understanding of what exercise is. Build on what the client is already doing before providing information about recommended guidelines or jumping in with advice about how to improve in that area.
Risk Factors for Substance Use Disorders in Older Adults
Prevalence rates of substance use and misuse among older adults, methods of screening and assessment unique to older adults, and treatment options for older adults are reviewed. Since 2010, population of adults aged 65 and older has experienced a rapid increase, growing by over a third. This surge is primarily due to advances in health benefiting the baby boomer generation, born between 1946 and 1964. By 2034, one in every five Americans is projected to be over 65 years of age.1 The growing aging population has growing healthcare needs.
- Primary care providers, general internists, family medicine practitioners, trained pharmacists, advanced practice registered nurses, and physician assistants.
- Provide a paper or digital tablet version for clients to complete by themselves.
- To assess whether participants lived alone, a variable measuringfamily structure from the NHIS survey was used.
- If your program cannot offer treatment for SUDs, refer your clients to counseling and tailored psychosocial supports that have the capacity to meet older adults’ unique needs.
Support groups are vital for older adults suffering from substance abuse issues. They offer a safe and comfortable space to talk freely and openly about one’s experiences. They can provide an opportunity for older adults to connect with peers who have gone through similar struggles, providing a forum to share advice and strategies that have proven successful in managing their addiction. Not all people will have the same signs or symptoms of a substance use disorder.
Seniors are often retired and no longer in the workforce; they may live alone or far from family members; and personal social circles may dwindle as peers pass away or become less ambulatory. Even doctors may hesitate to diagnose a substance abuse problem as how old is demi lovato a kind of ageism, or prejudice, may exist with the notion that elderly individuals are entitled to their drugs or alcohol. People may not want to take substances away from elderly individuals and risk potentially negatively impacting their quality of life.
Decide whether other conditions are present that need to be addressed during treatment. Adapting to major life changes, like retiring or moving into an assisted living residence. Give brief education, such as reminding them of low-risk maverick house sober living alcohol intake levels for older adults. Assessments give detailed information for diagnosis, treatment decisions, and treatment planning. Box 2 reviews the potential symptoms or indicators of problematic substance use.
Tell clients that they can answer whichever questions they wish, however they wish. For more information about alcohol screening, see the “Screening and Assessment” section in Chapter 4 of this TIP. Providers spend too little time with clients (and older adults in particular). We thank our Loma Linda University Health colleagues, who provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted the manuscript. We would also like to show our gratitude to our institution for allowing and encouraging us to publish our academic activities.
Also check with the AAA or the Aging and Disability Resource Center (if available) for your community. Explore how your clients’ understanding of spirituality relates to their overall well-being, experience of recovery, sense of meaning and purpose, health, and coping with loss, stress, or adversity. Mutual-help groups such as AA and NA can support abstinence and foster new social connections, a sense of belonging, and healthy lifestyles. Family members often provide most of an older adult’s basic social support.
Using tailored screening and assessment measures that were made specifically for older adults or are approved for use with them. Questions that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” can seem harsh or judgmental. Older clients might already feel ashamed and uncomfortable talking about their substance use. Closed-ended questions could make those feelings even worse and cause clients to “shut down.” On the other hand, open-ended questions can help clients become aware of and express their own experiences and motivations related to substance use. Keep in mind that almost all clients will have mixed feelings about their substance use. They will find some aspects of it pleasant and beneficial but other aspects difficult, painful, or harmful.