However, using these drugs as prescribed by a doctor does not seem to exacerbate this risk. As we age, our brains and bodies experience changes, including changes in metabolism and brain chemistry. The most commonly used medications among older adults are not inherently addictive. Fentanyl creates a high risk of overdose and death, as it is often mixed into batches of street heroin and other drugs without the buyer’s knowledge.
Access Quality Care For You or a Loved One
- In the United States, the proportion of older adults has been increasing as advances in healthcare, particularly preventative medicine, have fueled longevity.
- The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation’s inpatient and outpatient addiction treatment is designed exclusively for adults age 50+.
- Facilities specializing in substance use treatment for older populations, such as Ashley’s addiction recovery programs, provide the necessary expertise to help seniors navigate recovery safely and effectively.
- CBT has been shown to aid in discontinuing benzodiazepines; randomized controlled trials showed that the proportion of discontinuing benzodiazepines was significantly higher when patients participated in CBT plus gradual tapering than in gradual tapering alone both in the short and long term 74.
- To find another treatment program, browse the top-rated addiction treatment facilities in each state by visiting our homepage, or by viewing the SAMHSA Treatment Services Locator.
Addiction creates many difficulties, especially when it occurs in underrepresented communities. The following what is the best treatment for substance abuse for older adults resources can help older adults, their loved ones, and care providers with SUD management. These programs recognize that various demographics face specific challenges and stressors, and they provide treatment that addresses those issues. Older adults, as well as family members and caregivers, can take steps to prevent accidental drug misuse.
Family Communication
- The page provides links to research and training areas, BRTC research, the treatment development clinic, publications, and a subscription area for receiving related news.
- An ever-growing body of evidence suggests that substance abuse in older adults has gone unnoticed for decades.
- You may have recently found yourself asking if you, or someone you know, is drinking too much.
- MI is concentrated on gauging a person’s readiness to change and cultivating ambivalence.
Older-adult substance users may not present with the same symptoms as their younger counterparts and, therefore, may be more difficult to identify. Treatment options remain generally limited, as few programs or health care settings offer tailored interventions for older adults. Health care professionals need to continue to do as thorough of assessments as possible and enlist the help of formal measures, Web-based assessment, and build in the questions outlined earlier as routine. As the baby boom generation ages, the health care system will be challenged to provide culturally competent services to this group, as they are a unique generation of older adults.
RISK FACTORS FOR OLDER ADULTS USING SUBSTANCES
Additionally, aging can impair the body’s ability to metabolize and eliminate substances efficiently, prolonging their effects and increasing the risk of toxicity. Belonging to an older cohort decreased the probability of ever receiving treatment (Blanco et al., 2015). Consistent with this study, NSDUH data indicate that among adults ages 65 and older with SUD, in 2018, 24 percent received treatment for drug use disorders, and 16.8 percent received treatment for alcohol use disorders https://ecosoberhouse.com/ (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2019).
- For example, a person dealing with trauma may benefit most from eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).
- In addition to this, while telehealth is becoming more common in the post-COVID-19 era, satisfaction with telehealth among older adults showed lower satisfaction among those with lower socioeconomic status and among certain minorities including Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans 82.
- One of the most commonly abused substances alongside tobacco, misuse of alcohol is often a hidden phenomenon.
This website provides information about SIS’s history, focus, and annual conference. It also has a list of meetings where older adults who misuse alcohol can meet for fellowship, help with cutting down or quitting alcohol consumption, and education on the unique problems alcohol misuse causes their age group. The helpline website features free publications on substance use and mental disorder awareness, plus family treatment approaches, interventions, and self-help for achieving recovery from these disorders.
Resources for Providers
The major limitation of naltrexone in an older-adult population, many of whom have chronic pain, is that it blocks the effect of opiate-based pain medications. Most brief interventions are described as using aspects of motivational interviewing (MI)118 or motivational enhancement therapy (MET),119 which encourages a client-centered, nonjudgmental approach to discussing substance use and encouraging positive, healthy changes to the individual’s life. Chronic alcohol use, for example, can lead to liver disease, cardiovascular problems, and neurological damage.
The fatality rate was highest among non-Hispanic Black men 55 years or older, with a rate of 40.03 per 100,000 persons 58. Substance use disorders are becoming increasingly prevalent in the geriatric population, necessitating an updated understanding of the existing literature. This review aims to describe the epidemiology, special considerations, and management of substance use disorders in older adults. Yet knowledge of substance use and substance use disorders (SUD) in this cohort lags behind knowledge about the same issues in younger age groups. This article briefly summarizes data on the epidemiology, service use, and clinical considerations of substance use and SUDs in older adults, and suggests future directions.
Housing, the built environment and other neighborhood characteristics also can be powerful determinants of substance use and access to treatment. Developing and implementing evidence-based approaches to social determinants of health will be key to improving the health of older adults and decreasing the risk of SUDs. The 2018 NSDUH estimated that for adults ages 65 and older the prevalence of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and opioid (including prescription opioids) use in the past twelve months were 43 percent, 14 percent, 4.1 percent, and 1.3 percent, respectively. The twelve-month prevalence of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and drug use disorder (DUD) (the NSDUH does not publish disaggregated information on specific drugs for adults ages 65 and older), were 1.6 percent and .4 percent, respectively. These findings are consistent with Sober living house the results of the National Epidemiological Survey and Related Conditions-III (NESARC-III), which estimated the prevalence of AUD and DUD at 2.3 percent and .8 percent, respectively (Grant et al., 2015; Grant et al., 2016). A common challenge in counseling these clients is the embarrassment and stigma that older populations face when being asked to acknowledge and confront substance use issues later in life.
