Harm reduction among at-risk elderly drinkers: a site-specific analysis from the multi-site Primary Care Research in Substance Abuse and Mental Health for Elderly (PRISM-E) study
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Published Online: 9 Jul 2008

To assess the efficacy of a harm-reduction based intervention to enhance access to treatment and clinical outcomes among elderly at-risk drinkers. At-risk drinkers in the integrated care condition were more likely to access treatment than at-risk drinkers assigned to the enhanced referral condition (93% vs 35%; 2 = 11.38, df = 1, p = 0.001). Among those who received treatment, there were no differences in the total amount of treatment visits or in the number of brief alcohol interventions received among at-risk drinkers in the two conditions. However, those in integrated care condition received services sooner than those in the referral condition. Those in the integrated care condition showed a significant decrease in the number of drinks in the past week and in the number of binge drinking episodes in the past 3 months while there were no significant changes in these outcomes among the at-risk drinkers in the enhanced referral condition. At-risk drinkers in the integrated care condition were more likely to access treatment and decrease harmful drinking behaviors than those in the enhanced referral condition. Implications for future research and treatment are discussed. Read Full Abstract Request Reprint E-Mail: hlee@lppi.ucsf.edu _______________________________________________________________