Abilities Magazine – Summer 2006

A Prescription for Health and Well-being
People with Disabilities and the Use of Prescription Medication

In the Spring 2006 issue of Abilities Magazine, CAILC announced its national project on persons with disabilities and substance abuse. The Access to Recovery project will provide Independent Living Resource Centres (ILRCs) with resources and training to provide information and support to consumers and community providers to address substance use and abuse. As the lead organization, CAILC is in the process of conducting a national needs assessment to better understand the scope of the issue. Throughout this work, prescription medication has been a reoccurring issue of concern for many persons with disabilities.

From existing research and the information we have learned from consumers, it is clear that the use and misuse of prescription medication is an issue of importance to the disability community.

Facts:

• In a study by DAWN Canada, 96 percent of those asked felt that prescription drugs caused problems for women with disabilities. 1 
• In this same study, a majority noted that prescription medications are sometimes shared, citing pain, sleeping, cough and anxiety medications as the most frequently shared. 2 
• Persons with disabilities are frequent users of health care services and, as a consequence, are often over-prescribed drugs. 3 
• High rates of inappropriate drug use have been reported in residential services for persons with disabilities. 4 
• A lack of prescription drug coverage may also force people to use whatever means necessary to get access to what they need. 5
• Clearly, many persons with disabilities are more vulnerable to prescription medication use and misuse for a number of reasons, including those cited above. In addition, participants in our focus groups noted that not having a regular family doctor or plain-language material and material in alternate formats made the safe and proper use of prescription medication more difficult for many.

Although we have identified several factors that may lead to the misuse of prescription drugs, the persons with disabilities we have spoken to are optimistic that there are real solutions to this issue. First and foremost, and in keeping with a main principle of the Independent Living philosophy, consumers note that they must be actively involved in all decisions regarding their health and well-being. Active involvement means that people are provided with accurate and accessible information that enables them to make informed decisions. Active involvement also means that consumers are part of all solutions-based planning to address these issues.

Through Access to Recovery, CAILC will work with ILRCs to provide our Centres with the tools, information, training and support necessary to work with their consumers, mainstream providers and community stakeholders to address substance abuse and misuse issues.

For more information on the Access to Recovery project, please visit http://www.cailc.ca .

For more information on the effects, use and abuse of prescription drugs, you can visit the prescription drugs section of the Canada Health portal at http://chppcs.gc.ca . Choose Addictions, then Drugs, then Prescription Drugs.

To learn more about substance abuse issues in general, please visit the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse website at http://www.ccsa.ca/ccsa .

1 DAWN Canada (1995) Relief at What Cost .
2 Ibid.
3 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Special Populations Section: People with Disabilities. Available at: http://sano.camh.net/resource/pdis.htm
4 Ibid.
5 DAWN Canada (1995) Relief at What Cost .

Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres
Abilities Magazine - Summer 2006. Issue 67: p. 51