Substance abuse among the older adult Research Paper

Substance abuse among the older adult - Research Paper Example Drugs prescription is one of the commonly abused substances, and led to the death of most elderly persons. Older adults who are affected by this abuse are seen with negative effects. Some of them were not given treatment and remained untreated until they die. Thus, this paper seeks to investigate how services and facilities--designed to at least save the patients from death--are delivered. Further, this paper identifies commonly abused substances and their effects. Commonly Abused Substances 1.1 Alcohol Alcohol use among older adults is not rare as it is one of the causes of severe diseases to them. In the United States, there is an approximately 2.5 million older adults that have been found out to be alcohol drinkers, and 21 percent of hospitalized adults aged of over 40 have been diagnosed of alcoholism (Blow, 1999). Not only older men have been found to be alcohol drinkers but also women, and became more dependent to alcohol. Myers et al. (1984 as cited in Blow, 1999) stated that older men are more inclined to alcohol drinking than older women. Dependency on alcohol becomes a serious problem but is not given proper attention and treatment. Older adults, who drink alcohol whether in a binge or heavy manner, have seen to have negative psychological and emotional experiences. Alcohol drinkers can be of two classifications, binge drinkers and heavy drinkers as far as the frequency of alcohol intake is concerned. Blow (1999) further stated that binge drinkers are those people who drink alcohol occasionally like once per week while heavy drinkers consume alcohol as often as daily or five drinks per week (p. 22). However, no matter what the frequency is, the problem still lies on the alcohol dependency among older adults. Alcohol, as a substance, is being abused by elder men and women and strikingly became leading causes of fatal diseases like cancer, diabetes, and liver illnesses. 1.2 Cigarette and Tobacco Cigarette and tobacco are widespread in the whole world an d have been taking its rank to the top place of most deadly substances. These substances are known to be the leading cause of lung cancer. Not only younger people are likely to get deadly diseases but most especially the older ones, as their body are not that strong in terms of immunity. Most deaths in the United States were driven by tobacco smoking and are increasing every year. One out of every five Americans died because of their excessive tobacco use. In addition, survey indicates that the number of older adults who use tobacco or cigarette have declined after reaching the age of 65 and over (Blow, 1999, p. 25). Although the number has sharply decreased, actually this does not mean that the problem with smoking was eradicated. 1.3 Drugs Older adults in their dawning age are likely to intake drugs which are intended to cure their sickness, but a large number of them have been found out to use drugs not prescribed by physicians. This contributes to the aggravating cases of substa nce abuse, and must be brought to a greater concern. In addition, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment found out that in the year 2000, 25-28 percent of older adults used a psychoactive medication, and 20 percent took a tranquilizer on a daily basis (Blow, 2002 as cited in Yoshida, 2006). Further, illicit drugs are also widespread anywhere in the globe. According to Jinks and Raschko (1990 as cited in Yoshida, 2006) prescription drug abuse has reached an average percentage ranging from 30 percent to