Opioids

Clinical Guidelines

Discover the guidelines on opioid use in older adults.

 

For Health Care Professionals

Find clinical tools and resources to support your patient.

For Older Adults & Care Partners

Explore ways to support mental health and well-being for yourself and loved ones.

A senior man of african descent listens to his female doctor as she tells him what he needs to do to ensure his illness is cured.

Opioid Use Among Older Adults

There is a growing population of older adults developing opioid use disorder (OUD). In addition to this, there are older adults with longstanding OUD (including people who use illicit opioids) who require treatment for their addiction and related health problems.

In Canada, 43.9% of adults over 55 years of age have used a prescription opioid and 1.1% of that group have done so daily (or almost daily) in the last year (Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, 2018).