More education needed to help over-50s know their limits

-Event into drinking in the over-50s takes place at QUB on Tuesday January 26 @ 4pm –

Educating Northern Ireland’s over-50s on alcohol consumption and how it may be affecting our mental and physical health must be considered a key priority in order to address what has been described as “a growing concern which requires a collective response”.

That’s the message from Addiction NI CEO Thelma Abernethy ahead of a major information event looking into issues surrounding drinking behaviours in over-50s at Queens University Belfast next week (Tuesday January 26.)

The information seminar will see the local launch of the Drink Wise Age Well Report on ‘Alcohol Use and the Over 50s’. Addiction NI is the lead Drink Wise Age Well programme partner in Northern Ireland.

The Drink Wise Age Well report is the biggest of its kind into attitudes towards alcohol and ageing, bringing together the views of 16,700 people from 10 regions across the UK – including the Western and South Eastern HSC Trust areas in Northern Ireland.

Among the key findings from respondents in Northern Ireland, it was found that:

• The NI study areas had the highest percentage of adults over 50 who were unable to correctly identify recommended drink limits (77%) and who did not feel fully confident in calculating alcohol units (62%), compared to other UK nations
• it also found that 28% of adults aged over 50 in NI would not tell someone if they had an alcohol problem, which is the highest of all UK study areas
• more positively, NI showed the highest percentage reporting that they believe that people with alcohol problems should be treated more tolerantly by society (81%); and the highest percentage of participants saying they would know where to get help/advice if they were experiencing problems with alcohol use (81%).

Thelma Abernethy said: “There is a major scheme of work to be done in educating the over-50s about drinking limits. By raising awareness about alcohol, individuals take confidence in making informed choices about their own relationship with alcohol. Quite often we struggle to accept of acknowledge that alcohol is limiting our wellbeing”

She added: “We must engage in a major public debate in order to draw these issues from behind closed doors and into the public arena. We hope as many people as possible will come along to our information event, which is being chaired by BBC NI’s William Crawley, and get a fuller understanding of how alcohol is affecting over-50s in our communities.”

The Western Health and Social Care Trust has been chosen as one of five key areas in the UK funded to receive the Drink Wise Age Well programme. To find about the information event at Queen’s University on Tuesday January 26 click here or contact Addition NI on 028 8283 9240.