“…Unfortunately, the research suggests that these gatekeepers do not fare well in detecting and responding to patients with substance abuse and mental health problems (Bartels, Horn, Sharkey, Levine, 1997;Caine, Lyness, & Conwell, 1996;Callahan, Hendrie, & Tierney, 1995;Chappel, 1991;Higgins, 1994;Hopkins, Zarro, & McCarter, 1994;Michels, Johnson, Hornung, & Updike, 1993;O'Connor, 1994;Saitz, Mulvey, Plough, & Samet, 1997;Siegal, Cole, Li, & Eddy, 2000). The purpose of this article is to update social workers on advances in geriatric addictionology by reviewing current epidemiological studies and extracting practice principles.…”