Denial of Alcohol Treatment Need among Baby Boomers across Time: Implications for Social Work

As baby boomers continue to enter older adulthood in the coming decades, research suggests that this cohort is expected to exhibit changes in alcohol usage and treatment need patterns compared to previous older-adult cohorts. The literature suggests that unmet alcohol treatment need may be related to denial of treatment need among baby boomers who possess a diagnosable alcohol-use disorder (AUD). Therefore, this study explores potential risk and protective factors predicting alcohol-use among baby boomers who d\eny treatment need at two time periods. Data was obtained from the National Survey of Drug and Health (NSDUH). Variable selection procedures were performed at each time period, resulting in two predictive models for baby boomers who denied alcohol treatment need when treatment was indicated by a concurrent diagnosable alcohol-use disorder. The primary findings suggest that generalized, nonspecific alcohol treatment may be ineffective for treating AUD baby boomers who deny alcohol treatment need. Rather, as baby boomers continue to enter older adulthood, individualized specialty treatments may be needed in order to provide effective alcohol treatment for this unprecedentedly large birth cohort.