Age-friendly care for older adults with substance use disorder

Abstract

Substance use disorder is an important and increasingly prevalent condition among older adults (ie, over the age of 65 years), and can no longer be considered primarily a disorder of younger populations.1 Age-related biopsychosocial changes, such as physiological changes and social isolation, can increase the risk of substance-related harms and might drive unhealthy substance use. Drug overdoses and deaths caused by overdose, including among older adults, are occurring at record-high rates in the USA, where deaths from overdose in older adults have tripled between 2002 and 2021,2 and disproportionately affect racially minoritised populations due to a dangerous supply of recreational drugs and to racial and socioeconomic inequities in the treatment of substance use disorder.