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Getting it on the agenda: older people, the evidence in policy and practice

First published: 09 May 2019 | Last updated: 20 May 2019

The needs of older people are increasingly coming to the attention of substance use services but so far those needs have not been on national strategies for service provision.

Some of the need is generated by current practice. Opiate dependent service users are being retained longer in treatment and some are entering older-age in maintenance treatment. Alcohol problems in older age may be linked to social change as well as the longevity of the population and the gradual reduction of barriers to seeking help. The links to psychiatric co-morbidity will also be explored.

The presentation will examine the range of needs and the reasons why such needs have previously been unrecognised. The limited research evidence will be examined along with some local data presented by a trainee.

The presentation will conclude with recommendations for service development at national and local level.

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Report Author

Dr Daphne Rumball

Consultant Psychiatrist


Daphne is a trustee of the SSA and the coordinator for the bursary awards. She is an addictions psychiatrist, recently retired from an NHS post in Norfolk and Suffolk where she developed services and held a post in an adolescent addictions service. Throughout her career she collaborated with charity based services and latterly held part-time posts in such services.

Daphne held a senior lecturer post at the University of East Anglia (UEA) during which she was a member of the curriculum development group for the new medical school, ensuring the delivery of training in addictions within each year of the curriculum. She currently holds the position of Associate Tutor at UEA.

Research interests and publications have focused on service needs and service outcomes. She has co-written a text book on the treatment of drinkers and drug users, has written chapters in various books in the addictions field, most recently a chapter for the Royal College of General Practitioners’ text on the management of substance misuse in primary care.

Her other interests are in the field of conservation. Daphne is a member of the advisory medical panel for volunteer recruitment of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

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