Raising awareness among the Elderly People about their alcohol Intake and Associated Risk

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My thanks go out to all who have helped me complete this study and with whom this project may have not been possible. In particular, my gratitude goes out to friends, facilitator and family for extensive and helpful comments on early drafts. I am also deeply indebted to the authors who have shared my interest and preceded me. Their works provided me with a host of information to learn from and build upon, also served as examples to emulate.

DECLARATION

I [type your full first names & surname here], declare that the following dissertation/thesis and its entire content has been an individual, unaided effort and has not been submitted or published before. Furthermore, it reflects my opinion and take on the topic and is does not represent the opinion of the University.

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ABSTRACT

One of the major challenges in the field is to create awareness of the relationship between substance use and the possibility of developing serious problems as a result. This study focuses on the effectiveness of a secondary prevention program for the elderly who have been identified as alcohol or drug misusers. Secondary research was conducted through a number of sources, including libraries & the Internet. A number of libraries were visited for gathering valuable data from textbooks & journals. The Internet was also a major tool in obtaining relevant information, leading to search for a no. of articles in journals & newspapers from database. Several research papers on alcohol prevalence among the elderly and the level of awareness were retrieved from the systematic searching from databases which include Science Direct, Proquest and Plumbed. Once recognized as a problem, counselling, treatment programs, and education material have been shown to effectively produce change, particularly with older adults. Hence, public education and demonstration projects that target the elderly, caregivers and professionals in the field of gerontology are critically needed. This study proposes one such program that aims at raising awareness and ensurinf propoer screening and testing of alcohol abuse among the elderly.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

INTRODUCTION1

Background of the Study1

Problem Statement2

Purpose of the Study3

Aims and objectives3

Research Questions3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

Literature Search4

Alcohol's ill-Effects on the Elderly7

Treatment of Elderly Alcohol Abuse13

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY17

Secondary research17

Rationale for a systematic review of literature17

Inclusion and exclusion criteria18

Ethical Concerns19

Data extraction system20

Data synthesis21

Primary project21

Background21

Description of Project22

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION24

Alcohol Patterns among the Elderly24

Continuous Problem among the Alcoholic Elderly25

Early-onset26

Late-onset26

Caregiver Issues Surrounding the Older Adult Alcoholic Caregivers for the Older Adult27

Alcoholism in the Elderly and its Influences on Family Members and Caregivers27

Care giving Wives of Men Abusing Alcohol29

Lack of Care for the Families of the Alcoholic Elderly29

Cultural Prevalence30

Caregiver Stress and Coping30

Caregivers of the Older Adult Alcoholic31

Epidemiology33

Reasons for Drinking34

Consequences35

Adverse Effects37

Measures of Health Outcomes38

Health Outcomes40

Quality of Life41

Falls and Injury41

Lack of Prevention Efforts for Older Adult Alcohol Misuse42

Reasons For Lack of Prevention Programming45

Variations in Late Life Alcohol Misuse46

Low Treatment Rates of Older Adult Problem Drinking46

Resident Service Coordinators: Aging Services Providers with the Potential to Implement Prevention Programming47

Prevalence and Projected Growth of Later Life At-Risk and Problem Drinking50

Importance of Attitudes ...