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Reasons for changing alcohol use among older people in New Zealand
Author(s) -
Khan Nadim,
Wilkinson Tim J,
Keeling Sally
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.2006.00159.x
Subject(s) - loneliness , context (archaeology) , alcohol consumption , alcohol , health promotion , older people , psychology , gerontology , medicine , environmental health , public health , social psychology , nursing , paleontology , biochemistry , chemistry , biology
Objective: To determine self‐reported reasons for drinking alcohol and for changing alcohol use in older people.Methods: Descriptive cross‐sectional study using semistructured questionnaire interviews of 141 randomly selected community‐dwelling older people.Results: The 100 current drinkers said they consumed alcohol for social reasons, before and with meals and because alcohol helped them to relax: 45 had not changed their alcohol consumption over the past 12 months, nine had increased, 43 decreased and three did not know. Reasons for increasing were encouragement from friends, loneliness, as an alternative to smoking and enjoyment of drinking alcohol. Reasons for decreasing were mostly for health concerns or because of pressure from family or friends.Conclusions: Suggested strategies for influencing alcohol consumption in older people might include health promotion and education about potential negative health outcomes, in the context of ensuring appropriate social engagement in later life.