“Improving Chronic Disease Outcomes for Older Adults
The Link to Substance Use"
CDC PowerPoint Presentation
February 1-2, 2006

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A presentation hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Health Care and Aging Studies Branch as part of the Healthy Aging Seminar Series.

This presentation reviews the latest knowledge on the negative impact of tobacco, alcohol, and medication combinations on the course and management of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, and on the cognitive and mental health conditions of older adults, including depression. The presentation also describes some of the tested strategies that are available to prevent and intervene with the negative behavioral health choices of older adults in many settings.

Misuse of medications and alcohol, as well as smoking, is widely recognized as creating adverse health consequences among older adults, who have age-related physiologic changes that make this population less tolerant and more sensitive to alcohol and other drugs. What is not generally understood in the public health community is the high percentage of older adults at risk for these adverse consequences—and the extent of these adverse effects on cognitive and emotional status, on many chronic diseases, and on the increased risk of injury.

For more on this subject, review the associated publication, “Improving Chronic Disease Outcomes for Older Adults: The Link to Substance Use.”