specialty focus
Drink up
How many glasses of wine is too much for residents ?
By Elise Hartevelt
It ’ s a well-known fact that many baby boomers enjoy a glass of wine with their dinner – but what are the reasons behind it , and how will aged care homes fare as this generation enters aged care ?
Surveys show that the generation aged between 57 and 75 are most likely to drink daily , with those over 70 taking the lead ( 21 %).
Boomers in their 50s ( 21 %) and 60s ( 17.4 %) are also at a greater lifetime risk due to higher alcohol intake than the rest of Australia .
Associate Professor Caroline Salom from the University of Queensland expects boomers to continue to be regular drinkers when they enter nursing homes .
“ Their drinking habits have been very long established by now because we normally form those routines in our 20s and 30s ,” she says .
Boomers have strongly voiced their displeasure with the current aged care system , and a call to change alcohol regulations doesn ’ t seem far-fetched .
The government has left the choice in policymaking up to the provider whether to serve alcohol or not , which they can formulate in their additional services .
Most residential care homes agree that the option to drink alcohol fits into the person-centred approach , though each follows its own regulations .
Some providers allow mini-bars in residents ’ rooms and provide alcoholic drinks during Happy Hour and special events ; others serve only alcohol after the approval of a medical officer .
“ The funny thing about alcohol is that nothing ’ s ever really straightforward ,” Caroline says .
“ We know that risks associated with drinking alcohol will increase as we age .”
Older people often eat less , weigh less and may have cognitive changes or diseases , such as dementia , that inhibit their ability to cope with alcohol consumption .
Most residents are also on multiple different medications , which may negatively respond to alcohol .
And then there are the high risks of falls and injuries in nursing homes where alcohol could worsen someone ’ s sense of balance .
“ As we get older , our metabolism slows down , and the health of our liver might become poorer , so it takes longer to process alcohol and it may do more damage ,” Caroline says .
Interestingly , Caroline says that boomers have not drastically increased their alcohol intake – it just never changed .
“ Older people are less aware of the guidelines around lower risk drinking .
“ That ’ s probably because the current guidelines that are in existence in Australia were first introduced in 2005 .”
In fact , the first authoritative populationwide advice about sensible drinking only started coming out in the late 1980s .
“ I was looking at an old alcohol campaign , and they were saying that five pints of beer were too much , but two to three pints two to three times a week is moderate ,” Caroline says .
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Boomers have not drastically increased their alcohol intake – it never changed .
“ If you translate those three pints of beer someone might have on a day , assuming they ’ re full strength , it comes to nearly five standard drinks in Australian terms .”
The current guidelines recommend no more than ten standard drinks per week and no more than four on any day .
“ Our understanding of the risks associated with alcohol and our ability to put more reliable numbers on those risks has evolved a lot over time ,” Caroline says .
“ So those who ’ ve been effectively drinking alcohol for a much longer period of time won ’ t necessarily have kept up with that advice .” Interestingly , AIHW data revealed a trend where the proportion of young adults between 18 and 29 who abstained from alcohol has more than doubled since 2019 .
A 2020 survey even found that Australians aged between 64 and 74 were drinking double the amounts of alcohol than younger people .
“ It may be that those of us who are a bit younger are used to seeing alcohol-awareness campaigns and recognise them , whereas older people don ’ t pay much attention ,” Caroline says .
Caroline says the way we perceive alcohol is hard to change as we associate drinking with a lot of positive outcomes .
“ In Australia , alcohol has a really strong association across the board with things we perceive positively , such as socialising , and that ’ s one of the big challenges for communicating the risks around drinking ,” she says . ■
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