Older Adults' Knowledge and Intention to Communicate with Health Care Providers Regarding Concomitant Alcohol Use with Medications (CAUM): An Educational Intervention
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine if an educational intervention can have an effect on older adults' knowledge about alcohol use, medication use, the concomitant use of alcohol and prescription and over- the-counter (OTC) medications and intention to communicate with health care providers regarding safety issues. The sample of older adults was drawn from five senior citizen residential buildings in Westchester County. A posttest only control group design with a one month follow-up was used. Older adults were randomly assigned to either a control group or an experimental group known as Concomitant Alcohol Use with Medications (CAUM). For community dwelling older adults in this study, alcohol consumption was relatively low, with individuals consuming on average less than one standard drink per day. With respect to medication use, older adults took on average approximately five medications per day. All older adults rated it was important to be careful about combining alcohol and medications. However, only approximately 20% of older adults indicated that they had discussions with their physicians or pharmacists about the concomitant use of alcohol and medications. Results of the study showed that a one-time educational intervention did not make a difference with respect to knowledge about alcohol problems in older adulthood or intention to communicate with health care providers regarding safety issues about concomitant use of alcohol and medications. Implications for social work practice are discussed.
Subject Area
Gerontology|Social work|Health education
Recommended Citation
White-Ryan, Linda, "Older Adults' Knowledge and Intention to Communicate with Health Care Providers Regarding Concomitant Alcohol Use with Medications (CAUM): An Educational Intervention" (2012). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI3544992.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI3544992
