Older Drug Users David Liddell Director A national resource of expertise on drug issues

Target Group (source ISD) Drug Service new attenders 86% 14% 82% 18% 80% 20% 77% 23% 73% 27% 74% 26% 70%70% 30% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2000/012001/022002/032003/042004/052005/062006/07 Both Sexes <35 Both Sexes 35+

Target Group (source ISD) Drug service new attenders 70% 30% 69% 31% 67% 33% 64% 36% 63% 37% 61% 39% 56% 44% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2006/072007/082008/092009/102010/112011/122012/13 Both Sexes <35 Both Sexes 35+

Target Group: Gender (source ISD)

Physical Health of older drug users Dental Problems Hepatitis B Sexually Transmitted Disease Hepatitis C HIV Respiratory Problems Heart Disease Epilepsy Pelvic Inflammatory Disease Crohn’s disease Psoriasis Urology complaint Genetic Hypermobility Deep Vein Thrombosis

Social Background Employment High levels of unemployment Housing Most living in own home in an area of multiple deprivation Significant levels of homelessness

Emerging Theme ‐ Isolation & Withdrawal For older drug users, contact with other drug users is reduced “When I was younger, I had pals and we used to use together… we’d meet every morning and spend days together… go out shoplifting together…The older I have got I have tended to move away from that…You just become more independent… more selfish.. ”

Withdrawal from family “She (her mother) has aged a lot…I have got a lot of the guilt and shame and that, you know, so I tend not to go through (to visit her mother) because I hate experiencing that, because I come back feeling dead sad and feeling terrible within myself because of what I have done.” - Older female drug user

Age as a motivator for change “I mean the feelings weren’t the same anymore.I was existing. I mean I knew something had to be done drastically, especially with my age gap. There was a lot of factors… I was getting to the age now… well, what are you going to do? Stick to taking drugs or embarrassing yourself more by taking drugs or just call it a day? You know what I mean, and be a bit graceful about it? So I decided to do something about it.” 49 year old male

Age ‐ specific services? “Older drug workers, because I am fed up of goingin and talking to 23 ‐ year old boys…I know they kind of mean well, but some of them are young, you know, and it is quite difficult.I am not going to sit and lie, it is alright talking to someone kind of ages with myself or just a wee bit younger. But when you are talking to someone just kind of straight out of college or they are on a placement and they are dead enthusiastic about the job, but they are trying to tell you how to boil eggs and you are trying to be nice about it.”

Aspiration “I would just like to get a job and all that and just be like a normal person, but certain months of the year take a break, take a holiday and … (I’d) just like to be living like the same mundane existence that eight tenths of the population are living.”

Further work ACMD to form a working group to explore the issue of the ‘aging cohort’ of drug users Welsh Assembly’s Advisory Panel on Substance Misuse (APoSM) has a working group exploring issues relating to older people and substance misuse(including alcohol) Scottish Working group to be formed to explore older drug users