Kelly Munly, MS, Susanna Nemes, PhD, Lauren Hess, BA, Luc R. Pelletier, MSN RN BC CPHQ, and AnnaCarin Johansson, MS. Danya International, Inc., 8737 Colesville Road, Suite 1200, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 301-565-2142, kmunly@danya.com

Older adults are the fastest-growing age group in the population. Ten percent of older adults abuse alcohol, and an estimated 3 million drink excessively. In acute-care hospitals, the number of alcohol-related admissions of older adults parallel those for heart attacks. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the American Medical Association suggest that there is an epidemic of alcohol abuse among older adults. Materials and programs must be developed to provide tools to effectively address this epidemic. Danya International, Inc., with Phase I funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has developed a comprehensive, integrated, multicomponent, multimedia prevention tool called Senior Alcohol Abuse: The Hidden Epidemic. This intervention has been designed to increase awareness and knowledge about alcohol-related problems among older adults and their professional caregivers. The prevention package includes a Facilitator’s Curriculum, an Instructional Video for facilitators, an Educational Video for seniors, a Spanish version of the Facilitator’s Curriculum, and Factsheets for seniors. Incorporating the theoretical model of “Stages of Change,” the comprehensive package presents behavior change as a process, thus encouraging older adults to acquire the necessary knowledge and motivation to be successful in addressing alcohol abuse problems. Older adults and health care providers of older adults were involved throughout the project period, enabling the Curriculum, Videos, and Factsheets to be specifically tailored to meet the needs of the target populations (English and Spanish speaking older adults and their professional caregivers).

Learning Objectives:

• Articulate strategies targeting change in alcohol habits and adoption of a healthy lifestyle.
• Recognize triggers that elicit the desire to drink and identify coping strategies to make behavior change easier.
• Reflect on personal reasons to understand more about alcohol habits and initiate a plan to implement new knowledge.

Keywords: Aging, Alcohol

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.