**Author details**

*Healthcare Access - Regional Overviews*

sense of perceived control.

including SUDs [11].

ous and confounding effects.

**5. Summary**

the core components is 'belief in a higher power.'

counseling. Research has shown [35] that involvement in spiritual/religious activities led to decreased depression among some other adults. In the U.S., the 12-Step model of addiction recovery has principles that guide the processes [36] and one of

Reminiscence or life review therapy has yielded mixed results [33]. This potentially preventive approach involves literally reviewing one's life experiences as far back as one can remember and examining each life stage in terms of one's choices and the consequences of those choices for self and others. Given that the consequences of such experiences could be either positive or negative, perhaps it is the attitude toward such consequences that is critical to the effectiveness of this approach for prevention. If one believes that life is an opportunity to learn, then the results of the life review may prove to be positive and instructive for further learning and avoiding the same mistakes, thereby allowing for self-correcting and a

Psychodynamic therapy has also been evaluated empirically continue to have popularity as an approach within a managed care environment that reimburses only empirically supported treatments for older adults [33]. With homeless older adults, such interventions have been facilitated in substance abuse recovery program and in other shelter-based program that address mental health conditions,

Pharmacotherapy may also be an effective prevention strategy with older adults and there are a number of recommendation for addressing risk and side effects of antidepressant medication when prescribed to older adults, and especially those that are in addiction recovery [37]. One precaution is that approximately 20% of older adults have serious health problems that can be aggravated by antidepressant medications, including increased risk of physical injuries and hypertension disorders [33]. Moreover, research suggests that anti-anxiety and other sedative medications worsen conditions of depression and perhaps anxiety, among older people with substance use disorders [38–42]. Noteworthy is caveat methodological flaws and limitations may contribute to these negative findings in the research. Variations in interventions techniques, provider characteristic and sociocultural diversity of the participants are not clearly explained and such omissions can result in ambigu-

As a moral imperative, fundamental in the profession of social work, the core value and belief that every human being deserves a home, food, clothing and access to health care compel us to make this call to action. Older adults should not be excluded from the inalienable rights and dignities, worldwide [19] to have their basic needs met. As the risk of homelessness among older adults increases, this becomes a public health and human right concern for healthcare systems and providers. This call to action for expedient problem-solving to prevent older adults from living in poverty and becoming homeless. Solutions are within our local, regional, national and global reach, such as expanding and strengthening the existing safety net of health care and minimum income supports, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Child Support Enforcement, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as, including a livable wage for those whom continue to be employed. An increase in the supply and accessibility of affordable housing for the aging population and low-cost or no-cost community based mental health and substance disorder prevention and intervention services are a few of the recom-

**158**

mended solutions [42].

Ramona Bullock-Johnson and Karen Bullock\* North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

\*Address all correspondence to: kbulloc2@ncsu.edu

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
