Rural life might seem as far too distanced from health concerns associated with drug abuse, especially among aging people. However, research shows that the issue of substance abuse is listed among the problems that are common in the rural setting (Shannon, Havens, Oser, Crosby, & Leukefeld, 2011). The problem has affected a large quantity of aging people that have developed chemical dependency due to the need to consume opioid drugs (Keyes, Cerdá, Brady, Havens, & Galea, 2014). By introducing consultation services and options for aging rural residents to purchase high-quality opioids that reduce the development of chemical dependency, one will alleviate the health issues faced by the target population.
The health risks that the consumption of opioids entails are tremendous due to the rapidly developing dependency and the need to increase the number of opioids for managing pain and related issues. Studies show that the specified type of medications increases the risks of respiratory depression, are often highly toxic, and may lead to falls in elderly patients, not to mention the rapidly developing addiction (Crawford, 2019). Therefore, regulations have to be introduced for monitoring the reasonability of prescribing opioids to elderly patients (Keyes et al., 2014). Moreover, services for assisting rural aging patients that have acquired opioid dependency will have to be built (Crawford, 2019). Consultations and timely support will provide aging adults in the rural setting the support and assistance needed to manage their dependency and consider available treatment options (Hash, Jurkowski, & Krout, 2015). Moreover, the increase in financing of healthcare services for aging rural patients will be needed to introduce medications of greater quality that do not cause as a complex and rapidly developing dependency as first-generation opioids (Keyes et al., 2014). The proposed measures may assist in meeting the needs of aging adults in rural areas.
References
Crawford, N. D., Haardöerfer, R., Cooper, H., McKinnon, I., Jones-Harrell, C., Ballard, A.,… Young, A. (2019). Characterizing the rural opioid use environment in Kentucky using Google Earth: Virtual audit. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(10), 1-9. Web.
Hash, K. M., Jurkowski, E. T., & Krout, J. A. (2015). Aging in rural places. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, LLC.
Shannon, L. M., Havens, J. R., Oser, C., Crosby, R., & Leukefeld, C. (2011). Examining gender differences in substance use and age of first use among rural Appalachian drug users in Kentucky. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 37(2), 98-104. Web.
Keyes, K. M., Cerdá, M., Brady, J. E., Havens, J. R., & Galea, S. (2014). Understanding the rural–urban differences in nonmedical prescription opioid use and abuse in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 104(2), 52-59. Web.