Persons using illegal drugs such as heroin grow older than it has previously been assumed. One of the causes for this development is the availability of substitution treatment and the overall well-developed medical and psychological care for drug users.

However, this is accompanied by a certain degree of problem shifting. Several studies indicate that elderly substance users are not only significantly impacted by health and psycho-social problems but are also affected earlier by age-related problems like limited mobility and care needs. In the following years the number of elderly drug users with the need of care services and age-related diseases will increase substantially.

Case Management as a well-known social service intervention can be a structural help for connecting substance users (45 years and older) with different social service, that fit their psycho-social and nursing needs. Yet it has not been adapted to the target group of elderly substance users.

The project focuses on the development of a Case Management-approach that fits those special needs of elderly substance users.

By a better cooperation between help-systems for elderly drug users – e. g. such as addiction help and care for the elderly – and by the improvement of networking, the provided support for elderly drug users can be improved.

The project “Case Management for Older Drug Users” is composed of three modules:

• Quantitative cross-section analyses with more than 130 older drug users about their psycho-social and physical well-being, juridical and financial status, their problems and needs etc.
• Analyses of cooperation and networking between the services provided for drug users and elderly people in general.
  • Evaluation of the adapted intervention “Case Management for Older Drug Users” through a quantitative pre-post-approach in more than ten social aid facilities in three different regions of Germany with more than 60 substance users (45+).
  • Additional qualitative study with more than 20 guided interviews with Case Managers to learn  about the gain of this method, problems in including clients in Case Management-processes, advantages and disadvantages of the method.
  • Implementation of the evaluated manual “Case Management for Elderly Drug Users” in social aid facilities.

The project aims to gain knowledge of the psycho-social and health-situation of elderly substance users. The alliances between social services such as addiction help or care services for the elderly can be improved. Suitable help for elderly drug users can be a contribution to the augmentation of the life quality of substance users (45+).

• By the analyses of special needs of elderly drug users we gain knowledge about their psycho-social and physical situation.
•  By the study of cooperation between social services of addiction help and care facilities we learn about functioning networks and how to improve cooperation if necessary.
• By the development and implementation of a manual „Case Management for Elderly Drug Users“ as an innovative and problem-solving-focused psycho-social intervention we contribute to professional Social Work for substance users that are 45 years old and older.