Revisit the case of Susan Olin to gain insight into the various impacts of substance abuse on aging adults. Substance abuse can be analyzed in the context of its ecological impacts on the individual’s interaction with larger mezzo and macro environmental systems. Healthcare policy provides the macro framework for the exploration of substance abuse in the aging population, so addressing this issue requires navigating a complex system of intersecting local, state, and federal policies regulating treatment.
Background Information
In this assignment, you will analyze a case that highlights the intersection of poverty, homelessness, aging, and substance abuse. Based on an oral history of substance abuse taken in a single interview with an older adult willing to share her story, this case study will explore healthcare policy in context and reveal the challenge of policies that serve as a barrier to those who may need treatment the most—the poor, disenfranchised, and vulnerable. Through consideration of your own practice experience and the lessons you have gleaned thus far regarding policy and social justice, you will confront challenges, imagine solutions, and provide policy recommendations relative to the case study at hand.
- Review the case study, “Social Policy Analysis, Advocacy, and Practice: Substance Abuse–Susan Olin’s Story.”
- In a two- to three-page, APA-formatted document, address the following. Use the APA Template for Dropbox Assignments.docx file to complete your assignment.
a. Investigate what coverage Medicare provides for substance abuse services.
b. Identify policy advocacy organizations in alcoholism and substance abuse and determine how many, if any, have taken a position on the needs of older adults with alcohol or substance abuse problems. Analyze your findings.
c. In your opinion, does age, gender, race, or ethnicity affect decisions about whether substance users are referred to programs aiming for abstinence or to those focused on harm reduction? Can you find evidence in the literature to refute or substantiate your view?
d. Ms. Olin has qualified for SSI based on her medical problems. However, since 1996, people with a primary diagnosis of substance abuse or alcoholism have been denied Social Security disability benefits under either SSDI or SSI. What values and assumptions on the part of policy makers might have prompted this policy change?
e. In tight-money times, substance abuse services are vulnerable to cuts. Develop an advocacy agenda to counteract proposed cuts to substance abuse services, especially services for older adults.
f. What advocacy groups and/or other organizations might you partner with in a campaign to develop or pass legislation to assist older adults with alcohol or substance abuse problems?
Sample Solution
