Health sector news
‘Epidemic’ of over 60-s drinking
20/7/2009New research by alcohol and drug charity Foundation66 has highlighted what it calls an ‘epidemic’ of alcohol misuse among the over-60s. The charity is urging government to widen its focus on problem drinking and provide funding for more services targeted at older people.
Research has found that more than one in eight (13%) over-60s drinks more after they have retired. Of these, one in five (19%) drinks as a result of depression, and one in eight (13%) uses alcohol to cope with bereavement. In addition, one in eight (12%) most often drinks at home along.
Pensioners accounted for 357,300 alcohol-related hospital admissions in England in 2007-8, representing a three-quarter rise in the last five years. The charity says that older people face increased risks from alcohol poses, specifically because of frailty and the medication they may be taking, along with additional health problems. The survey also found that one in 10 adults in the UK has concerns about the level of alcohol being drunk by a family member or friend aged 60 or over.
Foundation66 points out that without urgent intervention, these levels of alcohol misuse will result in significant costs to both the NHS and wider society. Chief Executive of Foundation66, Sally Scriminger, says “The older people we see with drink problems come from all walks of life. Many are retired professionals, who never had issues with alcohol in the past. They don’t even have to leave home to buy alcohol – supermarket delivery services will bring it straight to their door. Because they don’t fit the stereotypes people hold about alcohol misuse, and because they often keep their drinking hidden, there just aren’t enough services out there to offer them the help they need.”
Last year Foundation66 piloted a project in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, to evaluate what requirements exist for alcohol-related health services among the over-60s. The project was inundated with referrals, most of them women.
