787 references primarily to journal articles and books published between 1932 and the present (greatest documentation from 1960's on). Topical arrangement. Each entry gives bibliographical information and annotation, and descriptors. Journal, author, and subject indexes.

Drug and Substance Abuse Among Older Adults provides a timely, comprehensive overview and analysis of the silent epidemic of drug and substance abuse involving elderly Americans. Combining the authors’ individual 50-plus years of formal academic and clinical experience, the book presents a critical reflective analysis and synthesis of the published research associated with older adult psychotropic drug use and abuse in the United Sates. Chapters delineate related causes and consequences and provide the reader with guidance on how to minimize and effectively deal with this significant and growing problem. Related professional reminders throughout each chapter emphasize and remind readers of important basic content and principles, while common misbeliefs regarding specific abusable psychotropics and their use by older adults are debunked and corrected. Also included are carefully developed figures and tables to supplement chapter content along with explicit guides and tools to facilitate the assessment and diagnosis of abusable psychotropic dependence or use disorder. Health and social care professionals in the U.S. will learn to assess and diagnose abusable psychotropic dependence or use disorders among older adults and to provide clients quickly and accurately with appropriate, efficacious, and empirically validated treatment.

The authors, both experts in the field of addiction treatment and intervention, provide a respectful, definitive guide for recognizing and addressing substance abuse among older adults. Addiction among older adults is a hidden and hushed problem. Signs and symptoms of alcohol or medication abuse can easily be mistaken for conditions related to aging. And even when friends or family members recognize signs of addiction, they often discount the need for intervention or treatment. With an estimated three million older Americans struggling with alcohol and drug misuse and abuse, Aging and Addiction is a much-needed resource. The authors, both experts in the field of addiction treatment and intervention, provide a respectful, definitive guide for recognizing and addressing substance abuse among older adults. Key topics include: understanding the relationship between aging and addiction, finding help for a loved one, and recognizing the treatment needs of older adults.Key features and benefitsauthors are widely recognized experts in the field of addictionaddresses one of the nation's most underestimated, under treated health problemsprovides how-to-help information for family members and friends

The leading clinical expert on substance misuse and abuse, Dr. Harry Haroutunian of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, provides caregivers and loved ones with vital information needed to understand and address addiction issues in older adults. Drug and alcohol problems are booming in older adults. Dramatic lifestyle changes, along with growing health problems, have led many to turn to alcohol, prescription painkillers, and marijuana to medicate their physical and psychological pain. You may think, Dad is just enjoying cocktails and retirement, or Mom still has pain and needs her pills. Maybe so, but consider that an estimated 17 percent of people age sixty and older struggle with misuse of alcohol and prescription drugs alone. Older adults are now hospitalized as often for alcohol-related problems as they are for heart attacks. In this book, Dr. Haroutunian, physician director of the Professionals Program at the Betty Ford Center, provides you with the information needed to understand the dynamics of addiction in older adults. You’ll learn to; clearly distinguish between the signs of aging and the signs of addiction, many of which overlap; identify the indications of drug misuse and its progression to addiction; understand the unique treatment needs of older adults; and get the help you—as a caregiver or loved one—need to cope with your loved one’s addiction. This essential guide can help you transform stress and chaos into understanding and compassion.