Treament for the elderly alcoholic - Assignment Example

The focus was on the goals and purposes of treatment of elderly alcoholics and how the services he offered could be accessed. We also discussed a variety of crisis situations followed by a question answer session. The outcome of an hour long interview is enumerated as under in detail. Dr. Cowan emphasized that the problem with alcoholism among the elderly is that it plays into a number of other conditions that a patient has. Alcoholism tends to weaken the immune system of an elderly at such a rapid pace that he gets less time to recover.

Assessment is a serious problem, he noted, in part because of the ways in which prescription medication can mask it. This is backed up by the literature (Miller, 2010, p. 318). He described the purpose of treating elderly alcoholics is to get them into a treatment program. “Often times these kinds of patients don't come in to see me. Mostly one of the children decides that enough is enough and it is time for this person to seek treatment. Biggest thing that one should have to fight alcoholism is the will.

If you don't want to get better, you never will.” He emphasized that another goal of treatment is to involve family members as they provide the key support network for elderly people. He identified this as the main way that the services would be accessed: the patients would be brought in by relatives. Media both print and electronic are also being used by people to curtail alcoholism. Family physicians also guide elderly alcoholic patients to visit a classified health professional. Nevertheless, he said, as with all addiction, there is a great deal of resistance.

As a doctor, I have to recognize that and do my best to make the process easier. The goal is to leave the person better off than before. He spent some time talking about the importance of the subject. “There are studies that show alcoholism among the elderly is very prevalent. It is hidden from view in part because elderly people are hidden from view. Part of the problem is that alcoholism can be confused with any number of other health issues. That is not a reason to step away from the study of this disease.

If anything, it is a reason to renew our interest. Any time we see a group in society that is falling through the tracks we need to do everything we can to help them. The elderly are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol for a lot of different reasons and their biochemistry has changed with age. That is an interesting issue which I devote a fair amount of study to. The whole ageing process is fascinating. We're all going to end up there one day, so we should know as much as we can.” Looking at alcohol treatment is important, he said, because there is an indication that the amount of abuse is increasing.

Some studies indicate that this is the case (Sirvin and Malamut, 2008, p. 515). Finally, we talked about crisis situations that are compelling people to seek help. Deteriorating health because of alcoholism is a major reason that finally makes a patient to seek treatment. Physiatrists, when consulted by individuals also led them to sea a doctor. Self determination to get rid of the abuses and live a better life also made few people to visit a professional. Relatives also motivated to habitual elderly patients to fight the alcoholism.

I found Dr. Cowan to be a very knowledgeable and sincere practitioner. The process and the goals that he described made sense to me. It was fascinating to hear