15th World Congress on Public Health – older people and AOD use

May 2017

NCETA presented on Australia’s ageing population and the concomitant changes in older people’s patterns of drug and alcohol use at the 15th World Congress on Public Health. The Congress is a global event held every four years and this year’s venue was Melbourne.

NCETA’s presentation to a diverse national and international audience at the Congress highlighted the Centre’s innovative work examining the needs of older people and AOD use and the impact on future AOD service delivery. Specifically, the presentation focused on:

  • Alcohol and cannabis use among older Australians
  • The typology of older AOD users
  • Strategies to address the challenges faced by services in responding to the needs of older people.

NCETA’s presentation was extremely well received and attendees were provided with copies of the following NCETA publications:

  • NCETA (2014). Grey Matters: Preventing and responding to alcohol and other drug problems among older Australians Information Sheets. Adelaide, South Australia: National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA), Flinders University.
  • Nicholas, R., Roche, A., Lee, N., Bright, S., & Walsh, K. (2015). Preventing and reducing alcohol- and other drug-related harm among older people: A practical guide for health and welfare professionals. National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA), Flinders University: Adelaide, South Australia.

Attendees were also provided with information about the following peer-reviewed NCETA paper:

Kostadinov, V., & Roche, A. (2016). Bongs and baby boomers: Trends in cannabis use among older Australians. Australasian Journal on Ageing. doi:10.1111/ajag.12357. Link

All of these publications are available from NCETA’s website.