Advertising


Feature

Baby boomers and the modern day sexual revolution: Part 2


Amanda Lyons


20/11/2017 4:56:42 PM

A research expert on addiction education and training is contacted by the managers of an aged care facility who, somewhat baffled, tell her, ‘We know people here are using cannabis. We can smell it.’
 

Baby boomers have relatively high rates of risky drinking
Baby boomers have relatively high rates of risky drinking

In the second of a two-part series on baby boomers and healthcare, newsGP looks at the way this generation is changing how people view the lives of older patients.
 
A research expert on addiction education and training is contacted by the managers of an aged care facility who, somewhat baffled, tell her, ‘We know people here are using cannabis. We can smell it.’
 
This type of situation is likely to going to increase as the baby boomer generation – generally defined as those born between 1946 and 1964 – continues to age and changes notions of the lives older people want to lead.
 
This year’s Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) National Drug Strategy Household Survey revealed some surprising information on rates of risky drinking: they are declining in Australia, except among people aged 50 years and older.
 
Additionally, the largest percentage increase of drug misuse in 2013–16 was among people aged 60 and older, and was mainly focused on prescription drugs. People over 50 also showed higher rates of illicit drug use than their younger peers, particularly with cannabis.
 
‘This upward trend with older age groups was particularly striking and something that we hadn’t seen before,’ Prof Ann Roche, Director of the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction at Flinders University, told newsGP. ‘We are in a most unusual period in time.’
 
Statistics show that GPs are very likely seeing older people with drug and alcohol issues in their practices already.
 
‘We’ve got one in four people in the 50–59 age group drinking at what we’d define as a risky level at least once a month,’ Prof Roche said. ‘And then amongst the 60-year-olds it’s one in five, so that’s a large-ish number.
 
‘From a primary healthcare, GP perspective, this is a substantial proportion of the patient population they would be seeing.’
 
Dr Keri Alexander, a former GP who now works as an addiction specialist, said this means practitioners may need to ditch any preconceived notions they might have about older people’s lifestyles.
 
‘Just because someone is over the age of 65 doesn’t mean they’re immune to having a drug or alcohol problem, or don’t use illegal drugs,’ she told newsGP. ‘It’s really important for us health professionals to be open-minded.’
 
After experiencing more contact from aged care providers encountering drug and alcohol use in their facilities, Prof Roche and her team at Flinders University began conducting research into the phenomenon. They identified three different groups of alcohol and/or drug users among older people.
 
The first group is the ‘maintainers’.
 
‘These are people who had a lifelong pattern of drinking alcohol or using other illicit drugs that they maintain into older age categories,’ Prof Roche said. ‘We don’t metabolise alcohol or other substances as efficiently as we get older, so what might have been a non-problematic level or pattern of use in earlier years can become problematic later. People are also likely to be taking other medication where alcohol, particularly, would be contraindicated.’
 
The second group is the ‘survivors’.
 
‘These are people who had a problem with things like heroin and have been on methadone or opioid substitution programs for a long time,’ Prof Roche said. ‘We used to talk about people either maturing out or dying early from their alcohol and drug use, but there is a sub-population who, through improved healthcare and better drug regimes, have survived longer into older age than would have been expected.’
 
Dr Alexander identifies the growing incidence of prescription opioid addiction among older patients as a particular concern, as it can cause harms ranging from increased risk of falls to death by overdose. It is also leading to an increased number of ‘survivors’ requiring support in aged care.
 
‘I’ve been involved in a few cases so far where elderly residents on the methadone program have had to go into nursing home care,’ Dr Alexander said. ‘Historically that’s been very rare in that older group, but I suspect we’re going to see a massive growth of that because of the prescription opioid dependence.’
 
The third group is the ‘reactors’.
 
‘This group may be reacting positively or negatively to changing circumstances such as changes in living arrangements, loss of a partner, loss of role identity through retirement,’ Prof Roche said. ‘They develop or increase the use of alcohol or drugs or change their patterns of use in reaction.’ 
 
Prof Roche believes these categories can be very useful for GPs.
 
‘It can give a sense of what’s relevant for that person or what’s happening in their lives, so they can give supportive and appropriate advice about safer and lower risk patterns of consumption,’ she said.
 
Because the issue is so common, Prof Roche feels it is helpful for GPs to maintain a high index of ‘suspicion’ in relation to drugs and alcohol when treating older patients. Several common flags or indicators may also prove helpful.
 
‘Standard things like increased blood pressure, for instance. That’s a really cardinal indicator of potential higher levels of alcohol consumption,’ Prof Roche said.
 
‘Depression, which can become quite common in older people, can often be associated with alcohol consumption. Get people to stop their alcohol consumption for a couple of weeks to see whether it really is an endogenous depression or whether it’s really a function of the alcohol.
 
‘A really common presentation in primary care for older age groups is disturbed sleeping pattern. People’s sleeping patterns just change as they get older, but if you’ve been drinking a bit excessively it’s highly likely it will help you fall asleep but you’ll get early waking as a result.’
 
Dr Alexander suggested a quick, easy and respectful way to screen patients for alcohol and drug issues.
 
‘Ask them about tobacco first, as it’s less likely to cause offense because it’s legal, common and relevant to health,’ she said. ‘And then alcohol because, again, that’s legal, common and relevant to health. And then cannabis, because even though it’s across the legal–illegal divide, it’s relatively common so it’s less likely to cause offense.
 
‘And then, if someone doesn’t use and has never had a problem with any of those, ask, “Any other drugs?”’
 
Dr Alexander also said it can be extremely helpful for GPs, and can help them feel more comfortable in handling these issues in consults, if they know how to provide patients with further information and assistance.
 
‘If a problem is identified, it’s really handy to offer to refer the patient to a drug and alcohol service for more thorough assessment and screening, and to discuss treatment options,’ she said.
 
‘But if they decline that, it’s perfectly reasonable to give them the phone number for the state drug and alcohol service and recommend they contact that to discuss it further.’
 
When it comes to treatment, Prof Roche said there is another preconception about older people that needs to be challenged – the idea that they can’t change their behaviours.
 
‘The evidence is very clear that if they have a substantial problem, older people do very well in response to both early intervention and advice, but also in treatment programs,’ she said.
 
‘So that’s another misconception, “Can’t teach old dogs new tricks, it’s too late to change”. The evidence simply doesn’t support that.’



Addiction Baby-boomers medicine older-patients


newsGP weekly poll Are you concerned about the apparent direction of the Government’s Scope of Practice review?
 
85%
 
5%
 
8%
Related





newsGP weekly poll Are you concerned about the apparent direction of the Government’s Scope of Practice review?

Advertising

Advertising


Login to comment