'The Hidden Epidemic:' VCU conference will focus on alcohol, medication and the older adult

By Mike Porter

Even as a little girl Patricia Slattum knew something wasn’t quite right. Members of Slattum’s extended family regularly got together for a Friday night fish fry. But as those gatherings lasted into the evening, alcohol seemed to take a particular toll on one older family member.

“He’d get really emotional and start to cry.  And then my parents would load us into the car and take us away,” Slattum said.

Slattum, Ph.D., vice-chair for graduate studies and associate professor and geriatric specialist for VCU’s Department of Pharmacy, said the family member often stopped drinking for long periods of time.

“But whatever triggered his drinking would return and he’d start again,” Slattum said.

By the time Slattum was planning her wedding, she knew the family member had a problem, even though it wasn’t openly discussed.

“I determined we were not going to have alcohol served at the reception because I didn’t want to deal with it (his drinking). So it was punch and cookies for us,” Slattum said.

Slattum’s family is not alone in dealing with an older member’s problem drinking. National statistics indicate up to 20 percent of older adults have problems with heavy drinking or alcohol abuse. Also, 60 percent of older people referred for prescription drug abuse showed evidence of alcohol use; 38 percent of older people in retirement communities were drinkers who used alcohol-interacting drugs; and as many as 70 percent of older adult hospitalizations are due to alcohol-related problems.

Patricia Slattum’s older relative, now in his 90s, was hospitalized just after this past Christmas holiday. Slattum and her family discovered empty liquor bottles in the house and began to compare notes, discovering that the man, who can no longer drive, asked several different family members, friends and neighbors to buy him alcohol because he was having friends over for the holidays.

“Whether it’s alcohol or a memory problem, it’s easy for people to be in denial and then everybody starts putting the puzzle pieces together. Nobody wants to believe it’s true,” Slattum said.

Slattum and her family decided it was time to offer “tough love”.

“We told him the word is out. You can’t have it. If you do, you’re going to a nursing home,” Slattum said.

In recognition of the current misuses of alcohol and medication by older adults and the approaching wave of “baby boomers”, those born between 1946 and 1964, turning 65 beginning in 2011, VCU’s Virginia Center on Aging, the Virginia Department of Alcohol Beverage Control, and the Alcohol and Aging Awareness Group are sponsoring a conference on the issue.

“The Hidden Epidemic: Alcohol, Medication and the Older Adult" will be held on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. in the University Student Commons. The conference will provide valuable resources for anyone who provides direct care to older Virginians, including health and social workers, family caregivers and older adults.

Slattum saw her family member on Easter and he was doing well.

“From a family point of view, it is possible to stop the drinking and have a good outcome.  It’s never too late, Slattum said.

For more information about “The Hidden Epidemic: Alcohol, Medication and the Older Adult", call 804-213-4688 or download a registration form at http://www.abc.state.va.us/Education/olderadults/registration.pdf. The cost is $25 and the registration deadline is April 15.