Alcohol and Drug Problems: Overview

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shulamith Lala Ashenberg Straussner ◽  
Richard Isralowitz
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Substance Misuse ◽  
Elderly Women ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The United States ◽  
Evidence Based Treatment ◽  
United States Population ◽  
Drug Problems ◽  
Alcohol And Other Drugs

Most social workers will encounter individuals and families who have problems resulting from excessive use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs, commonly referred to as substance abuse or, increasingly, as substance misuse problems. This article provides an overview of problems related to substance use worldwide, focusing on the United States population and selected subpopulations, such as young people, the elderly, women, ethnic and racial minorities, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual communities. It discusses the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for Substance Use Disorders, evidence-based treatment approaches, and relevant policy issues relating to substance use problems. The roles of social workers in addressing these problems are identified.

Painful Places: Medicare Fails Homebound Patients With Substance Abuse Disorders

2021 ◽  
pp. 406-419
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The United States ◽  
Home Health ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Substance Use And Abuse

There is extensive literature on the significance of substance use, misuse, and abuse among the elderly in the United States. A literature review indicates a paucity of information on the nature, significance, or impacts of the lack of substance use and abuse coverage in Medicare home health. This article presents background on the topic and an initial, exploratory study to address the literature gap, based on interviews of a convenience sample of 48 home care social workers between January 2013 and May 2015 in the New York City metropolitan area. Results indicate social workers believe substance use and abuse occurs frequently among Medicare home health patients; substance use and abuse is not assessed and treated professionally in Medicare home health; the lack of coverage in Medicare home health results in exacerbation of existing patient physical and mental health conditions, which, in turn, worsen substance use and abuse conditions; the homebound requirement and lack of coverage of transportation and personal care assistants limits home care patients ability to obtain outpatient substance use and abuse treatment; and lack of home-based assessment and treatment contributes to increased home care readmissions, re-hospitalizations, and increased caregiver burden.

Epidemiological Associations of Asthma and Tobacco Use, Substance Use, and Substance Misuse among Adults in the United States

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Abdullah M. M. Alanazi ◽  
Mohammed M. Alqahtani ◽  
Maher M. Alquaimi ◽  
Tareq F. Alotaibi ◽  
Saleh S. Algarni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Tobacco Use ◽  
Substance Misuse ◽  
The United States

From Enabling to Bootstrapping: Welfare Workers' Views of Substance Abuse and Welfare Reform

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Dohan ◽  
Laura Schmidt ◽  
Stuart Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Substance Abuse ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
The United States ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Substance Use Problems ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
New Policies ◽  
Drug Problems ◽  
Welfare Workers

In the United States, a trope of “deservingness” shapes policy related to public aid and substance abuse. In recent decades, poor people with substance use problems have increasingly been seen as “undeserving.” Federal welfare reform, passed in the mid-1990s, is an important exemplar of this trend. Welfare reform empowered line workers to directly and indirectly withhold aid from people with substance use problems. This paper uses in-depth interviews with workers to explore their views of these new policies. Workers generally applauded welfare reform's renewed attention to deservingness, including program emphases on client self-sufficiency and personal accountability and policies that time-limited cash aid and mandated working. They felt that these changes allowed them to stop “enabling” substance abuse and to encourage clients with alcohol and drug problems to bootstrap their way into jobs. Workers' embrace of these policy changes appears likely to shape how substance abuse problems are addressed within the welfare system.

Spatial Context of Residential Moves by Elderly Persons

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Golant
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Residential Mobility ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spatial Context ◽  
Elderly Persons ◽  
United States Population ◽  
Residential Moves ◽  
Cent Sample

This is a descriptive analysis of the spatial context of residential moves by the over age forty-five population in the United States. It utilizes residential mobility and state of birth statistics calculated from a 15 per cent sample of the United States population drawn for the U. S. Census. It specifically focuses on the likelihood that the age sixty-five and over white and black mover will relocate within his same county or state of residence. The paper reveals that the preponderance of residential moves by the elderly (whether black or white) are within the same county. Only a relatively small percentage make interstate moves. The majority of elderly live in the state of their birth. However, there is no evidence that as a consequence of aging moves become more spatially restricted until after age seventy-five. It is argued that greater emphasis be placed on not why elderly persons move, but why when they do, their residential relocations occur within varying spatial contexts.

scholarly journals A collaborative community approach to adolescent substance misuse in Iceland

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 86-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inga Dora Sigfusdottir ◽  
Alfgeir L. Kristjansson ◽  
Margret L. Gudmunsdottir ◽  
John P. Allegrante
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Substance Misuse ◽  
Upward Trend ◽  
School Students ◽  
Adolescent Substance ◽  
Community Approach ◽  
Collaborative Community ◽  
School Survey ◽  
Alcohol And Other Drugs

Substance use has become a major threat to health and human development in many European countries. In 23 out of 28 countries participating in the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), there was a constant and substantial increase in substance use among secondary-school students between the years 1995 and 2003 (Hibell et al, 2003). Iceland experienced a similar upward trend in substance use (Sigfusdottir et al, 2008). Throughout the 1990s, the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs increased steadily among 15- and 16-year-olds. In 1998, approximately 17% of 16-year-olds had tried hashish, which was the highest frequency to be measured in Iceland, and over 80% reported that they had used alcohol once or more in their lives (Thorlindsson et al, 1998).

Abuse of reformulated OxyContin: Updated findings from a sentinel surveillance sample of individuals assessed for substance use disorder

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa A. Cassidy, MPH ◽  
Eileen Thorley, MPH ◽  
Ryan A. Black, PhD ◽  
Angela DeVeaugh-Geiss, PhD ◽  
Stephen F. Butler, PhD ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Substance Use Disorder ◽  
The United States ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Addiction Severity Index ◽  
Prescription Opioid ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Geographic Regions ◽  
Drug Problems ◽  
Treatment Settings

Objective: To examine abuse prevalence for OxyContin and comparator opioids over a 6-year period prior to and following market entry of reformulated OxyContin and assess consistency in abuse across treatment settings and geographic regions. Design: An observational study examining longitudinal changes using cross-sectional data from treatment centers for substance use disorder.Setting: A total of 874 facilities in 39 states in the United States within the National Addictions Vigilance Intervention and Prevention Program (NAVIPPRO®) surveillance system.Participants: Adults (72,060) assessed for drug problems using the Addiction Severity Index-Multimedia Version (ASI-MV®) from January 2009 through December 2015 who abused prescription opioids.Main outcome measure(s): Percent change in past 30-day abuse. Results: OxyContin had significantly lower abuse 5 years after reformulation compared to levels for original OxyContin. Consistency of magnitude in OxyContin abuse reductions across geographic regions, ranging from 41 to 52 percent with differences in abuse reductions in treatment setting categories occurred. Changes in geographic region and treatment settings across study years did not bias the estimate of lower OxyContin abuse through confounding.Conclusion: In the postmarket setting, limitations and methodologic challenges in abuse measurement exist and it is difficult to isolate singular impacts of any one intervention given the complexity of prescription opioid abuse. Expectations for a reasonable threshold of abuse for any one ADF product or ADF opioids as a class are still uncertain and undefined. A significant decline in abuse prevalence of reformulated OxyContin was observed 5 years after its reformulation among this treatment sample of individuals assessed for substance use disorder that was lower historically for the original formulation of this product.

Substance Use Disorders in the Elderly

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Burgard ◽  
Robert Kohn
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Substance Use Disorders ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Nursing Home Residents ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The United States ◽  
Driving Under The Influence

Substance use disorders in older adults remains lower than in younger adults; however, the prevalence is rising in the elderly population. In the United States, the lifetime prevalence of an alcohol use disorder among persons age 65 and older is 16.1%. Studies of Veteran’s Administration nursing home residents have found that 29% to 49% of those admitted have a lifetime diagnosis of alcohol use disorder. A sizable proportion of the elderly acknowledge driving under the influence. In 2013, 1.5% of the elderly had used illicit drugs. The number requiring treatment for substance abuse is expected to double by 2020. The populations with the fastest increase in opiate mortality are those age 55 and older, including those 65 and older. This chapter presents the epidemiology of substance use among older adults and discusses issues related to elders’ substance use, including use in nursing homes, impaired driving and arrests, use of non-prescription medications, screening for substance use, and treatment.

Themes in sentencing young adults charged with serious violent crime involving alcohol and other drugs

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-432
Author(s):  
Siobhan M Lawler ◽  
Emma L Barrett ◽  
Lexine A Stapinski ◽  
David A Bright ◽  
Maree Teesson
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Young People ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Violent Crime ◽  
High Risk Group ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Drug Problems ◽  
Alcohol And Other Drugs

The majority of young people in custody have alcohol and other drug problems and over 90% report past-year experiences of high-risk drinking and illicit drug use. Despite a strong link between drug use and violent offending, there is a dearth of information about how this relationship plays out in sentencing young adult offenders. This study examines themes in the sentencing of drug-using young adults facing court for serious violent crime and describes how judges discuss rehabilitation as a consideration for this high-risk group. This research contributes to the literature by bridging law and social science through a cross sectional analysis of n = 507 sentencing remarks from New South Wales higher courts. Substance use involvement was indicated in more than three-quarters (77%) of violent offence cases. Among young adults sentenced for violent crimes involving substance use (n = 51) robbery and homicide were the most common offences, and alcohol and methamphetamine were the most frequently involved substances. Two themes emerged around judges’ reasons for sentencing, one emphasising offender agency and choice and another more compassionate position acknowledging the influence of drug dependence on offending behaviour. Despite this divide, addressing substance use dependence was commonly seen as key for the successful rehabilitation of young people who commit violent crime involving alcohol and other drugs.

Prospective Associations of Pain Intensity and Substance Use in the United States Population: A Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 576-583
Author(s):  
Walter Roberts ◽  
Kelly E. Moore ◽  
Terril L. Verplaetse ◽  
Yasmin Zakiniaeiz ◽  
Catherine Burke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Pain Intensity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Panel Analysis ◽  
United States Population

scholarly journals In our hands: responding to the IOM report on workforce needs for older adults with mental health and substance use disorders

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 1039-1040 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Steffens
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Federal Budget ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The United States ◽  
Institute Of Medicine ◽  
Older Americans ◽  
Healthcare Needs ◽  
Medicare Costs

In the United States, there are signs that we are coming to terms with the growing healthcare needs of older Americans. Over the past decade, exploding Medicare costs and the federal budget deficit have forced medical professionals, policy-makers, and other stakeholders to consider the consequences of an aging population. The US Congress commissioned a report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on the physical healthcare needs of the elderly adults and the geriatric healthcare workforce required to meet them, resulting in the 2008 IOM report Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce (IOM, 2008). Following this report, Congress recognized that the work was not finished and that more information was needed about mental health and substance use (MH/SU) disorders in older Americans. The IOM was commissioned by Congress to convene a committee to study and report on the workforce needed to care for this group. In 2012, the IOM released The Mental Health and Substance Use Workforce for Older Adults: In Whose Hands? (IOM, 2012).

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