5 Steps to Improve Outcomes in Substance Abuse in Older Patients

what is the best treatment for substance abuse for older adults

Self-help and 12-Step programs may have age-specific groups and meetings for older adults that can provide a safe haven and supportive peer network for individuals in recovery to help prevent episodes of relapse. A case manager who can check in with an elderly person regularly after leaving rehab, or a community-centered program, may be helpful to watch for signs of relapse. Friends and family members, and members of an elderly individual’s community, can all be important parts of a healthy support system that will enhance addiction treatment and promote long-term recovery.

what is the best treatment for substance abuse for older adults

Identifying Substance Use and Addiction in the Older Population

To help older clients achieve true health and well-being, be sure to help them address any areas in which functioning may be lacking. This includes their physical functioning, mental health, emotional well-being, intellectual activities, spirituality, work or volunteer activities, and social life. When seniors lack meaningful relationships or become socially isolated, it can lead to feelings of loneliness, which increases what is the best treatment for substance abuse for older adults their risk for developing mental health issues like depression – all of which can contribute to higher rates of substance abuse. Crisis services provide a variety of treatment options designed to provide immediate care for people who are intoxicated or incapacitated by their use of alcohol or other substances. The primary goal of these services is to manage withdrawals from substances, as well as medical and psychiatric complications during withdrawals. Crisis services include detox services, and are also designed to facilitate connections to continued care.

Promoting Wellness Strategies for Older Adults

Visitors spend an hour or two a week with older adults to provide companionship, friendship, and linkage to health and wellness resources. They can often identify signs of substance misuse in the older adults they visit and help link these older adults to treatment resources. Contact your local Area Agency on Aging (AAA; see Resource Alert) to find out whether it or another organization in your community has a friendly visitor program. Providers need to engage older adults in illness management and relapse prevention activities specific to substance misuse with a focus on health and wellness. Belonging to an older cohort decreased the probability of ever receiving treatment (Blanco et al., 2015).

Promoting Social Support for Older Adults

Social support and connectedness are often lacking in older adults and can help those with substance misuse achieve and sustain recovery, optimal functioning, and good quality of life. You also should be aware of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions and their effectiveness and safety for use with older adults. This chapter describes guiding principles for evidence-based, effective, and safe treatments and services for older adults with substance misuse.

what is the best treatment for substance abuse for older adults

Older adults are a special group because they are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of substances and therefore substance misuse. Further, providers, professionals, and family and caregivers tend to overlook substance misuse in older people, meaning they are less likely than younger adults to be correctly diagnosed and offered treatments, services, or referrals. This oversight makes SUDs particularly dangerous for this population in terms of possible effects on mortality and comorbid conditions (including physical, cognitive, and mental disorders). This TIP is designed to help providers and others better understand how https://ecosoberhouse.com/ to identify, manage, and prevent substance misuse in older adults.

Older adults are a diverse and unique population, and their SUD treatment and service needs typically differ somewhat from those of younger adults. Providers should understand developmental differences but also generational differences (e.g., baby boomers versus earlier cohorts) among their older clients. Age-sensitive and age-specific interventions can help increase older adults’ chances of achieving and sustaining long-term recovery. The treatment/service environment itself also should be adapted to this population, for example, through organization-wide training and encouragement of staff attitudes responsive to older clients’ needs. Consider each older client’s cultural background, gender, and age of onset of an SUD, all of which can influence treatment needs and recovery outcomes.

what is the best treatment for substance abuse for older adults

How to Improve Access to Mental Health Care for Medicare Recipients

Vital information for family and caregivers, like warning signs of alcohol misuse, helping an older adult access professional care, and the importance of self-care. The steps that occur when a person accesses professional treatment or services, such as screening, assessment, and follow-up visits. Also, you will learn about treatment options across the continuum of care, including formal and informal interventions, and how to select the best-fitting treatment.

what is the best treatment for substance abuse for older adults

Addiction Rehab for Seniors & Elderly Adults

OAA services focus on meeting the needs of low-income and underserved older adults, who are also most at risk for mental health conditions. The National Coalition on Mental Health and Aging is dedicated to addressing the needs and promoting the interests of aging Americans with mental health conditions and addressing the problems older adults have in accessing needed mental health services. The Coalition is composed of 70 national and state organizations, professional associations, and federal agencies that represent the behavioral health interests of older adults with mental health conditions.

  • On the positive side, because individuals ages 65 and older are eligible for Medicare, insurance is less often a barrier to care.
  • It covers patient assessment and treatment, and provides an algorithm for managing chronic pain, as well as a summary of non-opioid analgesics.
  • Health care provided by physicians with experience and training in geriatric medicine.
  • OAA services focus on meeting the needs of low-income and underserved older adults, who are also most at risk for mental health conditions.
  • The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends screening older adults for alcohol misuse 8.

what is the best treatment for substance abuse for older adults

Explores with clients how having a chronic condition affects them and how, if not properly managed, the condition may interfere with recovery from substance misuse. Types of positive social support, the impact of social isolation on health and wellness, and strategies for promoting and maintaining social support are examined. There are numerous substance use and mental health treatment options open to older individuals. The benefits available also provide coverage for mental health and/or substance use treatment. Seniors struggling with addiction may face unique struggles, such as increased isolation, co-morbid health conditions, and more.

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