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New Education Campaign Aimed at Older
Americans Who Abuse
Drugs
May 12, 2004 - Claiming two percent of people 55
and older that are admitted to hospitals abuse prescription narcotic
medications, three government agencies have joined forces in a public
education campaign to warn older Americans of the dangers of mixing
certain prescription drugs or prescription medications and alcohol.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA) the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the
Administration on Aging (AoA), agencies under the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS), yesterday announced their campaign
named As You Age.
The education materials are geared to help draw
attention to the need to manage prescription medication intake as well
as the dangers of mixing some medications with alcohol. The effort
highlights the need for more vigilance and monitoring of prescription
intake by older adults. As You Age consists of a series of materials
including print ads, radio and television public service announcements,
a brochure and a website housing all of the materials which can be
downloaded for adaptations and other use.
HHS is also releasing an Older Americans Kit. The
kit provides useful information from various sources to help aging
organizations, faith-based and community groups, policymakers, the
media, and other groups educate older people and their caregivers about
programs and services available to assist them, including information
from SAMHSA on use of alcohol by some elderly to self-medicate anxiety
or depression.
The As You Age brochure provides a medication
checklist so that a person can keep track of the dose amount, intervals,
and type of medication they need to take. It also points to the dangers
of consuming alcohol with a medication that might have adverse effect
due to negative interactions.
Sometimes older Americans are considered to have
dementia when in reality they are mixing prescription medications or
mixing medications with alcohol, SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie
said. SAMHSA is determined to get the warning out now before aging baby
boomers mix needed prescription medications with alcohol or illegal
drugs with dire results.
"We want older adults to be aware that the
increased use of medicine and normal body changes caused by aging can
raise the chance of unwanted or maybe even harmful drug interactions,"
said Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Lester M. Crawford. "People should talk
with their health care team about their medical condition, health
concerns, and all the medicines, vitamins and supplements they take. The
more you know about your medicines, the easier it is to avoid most
problems."
The Older Americans Kit contains feature articles,
informational vignettes, and fact sheets on a variety of topics
including health promotion and disease, care giving, volunteerism,
nutrition, transportation, and elder rights. Each article, vignette and
fact sheet provides information about programs and services available to
assist older people and alerts people to where they can get more
information. Materials will be distributed to the media, older
Americans trade publications and organizations and to consumer
organizations including health care entities.
AoAs Assistant Secretary for Aging Josefina
Carbonell stated that "this years theme, Aging Well, Living Well,
was selected to celebrate older Americans who are living longer,
healthier, and more productive lives. The theme also gives us an
excellent opportunity to highlight strategies and resources that can
help older Americans succeed at aging and living well."
The Administration on Aging maintains
collaborations with a national aging services network that includes 56
State Units on Aging, 655 Area Agencies on Aging, 244 Tribal
organizations, over 29,000 local community service organizations,
500,000 volunteers, and a wide variety of national organizations. These
materials will be distributed through the network as they strive to help
older Americans reflect the Older Americans Month theme: Aging Well,
Living Well.
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