Substance Abuse Among the Elderly

The Addiction Technology Transfer Center of New England, funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), is offering a credited, introductory on-line course on elderly substance abuse.

When we think of alcohol or other drug abuse we usually think of adolescents and young adults, but awareness is growing that the elderly also suffer from abuse of alcohol and other drugs. A significant percentage of the population aged sixty-five and older suffers from a problem involving alcohol or other drug abuse. Such older substance abusers place even greater burdens on the health care system than do younger abusers, yet less attention is focused on their needs. This course will introduce the student to what is known about these problems in older adults. Topics to be addressed will include the epidemiology of substance abuse in the elderly, early onset versus late onset problems, issues in screening and assessment, treatment issues and approaches and barriers to treating the older substance abuser.

David F. Duncan, Dr. P.H. is President of Duncan & Associates, a consulting firm providing consultation on research design and data collection for behavioral and policy studies. He is also Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health at Brown University School of Medicine and a member of the core faculty of Brown's postdoctoral program in clinical psychology, addiction studies, and psychopharmacology. His education included an undergraduate major in psychology, with minors in sociology and education at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and graduate work in criminology at Sam Houston State University in Texas. He earned the degree of Doctor of Public Health from the University of Texas at Houston with an interdisciplinary program in behavioral sciences, epidemiology, biostatistics, and program and policy evaluation. He earned a postdoctoral diploma in alcoholism early intervention and treatment effectiveness research from Brown University.


Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course the student will be able to: 

  • Describe the epidemiology of alcohol and other drug abuse among older adults. 
  • Name and define the three types of older adult alcoholics. 
  • Discuss problems in screening for alcohol and other drug among the elderly. 
  • Develop a plan for identifying older adults in need of substance abuse treatment. 
  • Discuss the barriers which frequently prevent older adult substance abusers from being identified and referred for treatment. 
  • Discuss problems and issues in providing treatment to older adult substance abusers. 
  • Develop an appropriate treatment plan for an older adult substance abuser.


Course Requirements

This is a five-week course beginning June 9, 2008, that will require:

  • 5 sessions - approximately two hours per week
  • Required reading outside of class;
  • Participation in the weekly forum
  • Completion of on-line pre and post-test
  • Completion of an on-line course evaluation.

*Please note that there are no real time events associated with this course. Lessons will be posted on the class WWW home page on Tuesdays and responses are due the following Monday. Assignments can be accessed at the participant's convenience.

The total cost of this course is $40.00 the course payment is due by June 9, 2008.  A full refund is available up until the posting of the second lesson (June 19, 2008), after which there will be no refunds.
 

ACCREDITATION

This five-week course, which begins June 9, 2008, has been approved by the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC) for 10 educational credits. It is being provided by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center of New England, which is accredited as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider (#000151). This course meets the qualifications for 10 hours of continuing education credit for MFCC's and/or LCSW's as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (PCE#1917).  This course is approved by the Connecticut Certification Board (CCB) for ten Category 1 continuing education for Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselors (CADC's). The CCB is an IC&RC affiliate. The New York State OASAS does accept distance education CEUs provided by the Addiction Technology Transfer Network for individuals pursuing or renewing a CASAC, CPP or CPS.Certificates will be mailed within two weeks to participants in the program for its duration who submit all required materials.  Please contact your local certification board to verify reciprocity or acceptance of ATTC-NE contact hours. 

To participate, you must have:

  • An E-mail address and the capacity to retrieve and send E-mail;
  • Access to World Wide Web (the following programs provide WWW access: Netscape, Apple CyberDog, and Microsoft Explorer)
  • Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher is the preferred browser for ATTC-NE online courses
  • The ability to navigate the World Wide Web
  • A basic understanding of how to use a computer and send and receive email

PLEASE NOTE NETWORK AND COMPUTER TECHNICAL SUPPORT WILL NOT BE PROVIDED.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: June 9, 2008 or when the course limit is reached. 

To register for this course please go to the following WWW site and complete the 'Elderly Substance Abuse' course online registration form. YOU MUST COMPLETE THE ONLINE REGISTRATION FORM IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS COURSE
https://www.attc-ne.org/courses/346/reg.html

For a list of current ATTC-NE courses, please go to the following site:
http://www.attc-ne.org and click on Distance Education.   Please Bookmark this site for future references. Course announcements will be made via the ATTC of New England Online Course Announcement Listserve 6-8 weeks prior to the start of each course. If you would like to be subscribed to this list, please contact Monte Bryant, Program Administrator, at Monte_Bryant@Brown.edu,  or (401) 863-6606.

This program is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT).


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