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Alcohol and drug use disorders are associated with an array of negative physical and mental health outcomes that are exacerbated with advancing age, such as functional and cognitive decline, compromised immune function, and depression. However, much remains to be learned about the correlates and consequences of substance use among older adults. Substance misuse in later life, which encompasses misuse of alcohol and illicit, prescription, and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, has been referred to as both an “invisible” and “emerging” epidemic (Sorocco and Ferrell 2006; Yarnell et al. 2020). Epidemiological work, which has focused on younger populations, demonstrates that beginning in the middle to late 20s, overall rates of alcohol and illicit drug use begin to decline, with most older adults reporting no substance use. Nevertheless, changes in demographic and cohort trends suggest that substance misuse in later life is a pressing public health matter and that older adults represent a group in growing need of specialized substance treatment programs and services (Chhatre et al. 2017; Grant et al. 2017).
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