Rose Laing

Background and objectives: Older Australian adults commonly engage in formal and informal volunteering. We examine how volunteering relates to social support, a combined measure of an individual’s quantity of social interactions, and satisfaction with the quality of social relationships. Methods: Data were analysed from 932 adults aged 50–70 years, surveyed between September 2023 and July 2024 (54.4% male). Results: Formal volunteering at < 5, 5–10, and 10+ hours/week was associated with higher social support (β = 0.54; β = 1.21; β = 1.61), as was providing <5 hours/week of informal childcare (β = 1.02). Social interaction increased across all levels of formal volunteering (β = 0.35; β = 1.01; β = 1.22), and providing <5 hours/week of care to children (β = 0.49). Social satisfaction showed no significant associations. Offering informal care to adults was not associated with any changes in social support. Conclusion: Formal volunteering appears to enhance social interaction, but not satisfaction, which may have implications for social prescribing practices.

Aims: We aimed to use Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) to identify distinct profiles of psychosocial health among adults aged 50–70 years in Victoria, Australia, to identify predictors of profile membership and determine if profile membership is associated with differences in hazardous alcohol consumption. Design: A cross‐sectional exploratory study using observational data from the Beyond 50 longitudinal cohort collected between September 2023 and July 2024. Setting: Victoria, Australia. Participants: Eligible participants were aged 50–70 years and residing in the Frankston or Mornington Peninsula Local Government Areas. Their recent alcohol use was comparable to the wider Australian population (past 12‐month use 85.2% cohort vs. 84.4% age‐matched national estimate). The cohort consisted of 1059 adults (47% female and 53% males) aged 50–70 years [mean 61.0, standard deviation (SD) 6.0], representing 1.2% of the local target population. Measurements: University of California Loneliness Scale 4‐item (UCLA‐LS‐4), Duke Social Support Index (DSSI), General Anxiety Disorder‐7 (GAD‐7), Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 (PHQ‐9) and Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT‐C). Low social connection was defined as limited social interaction and support alongside high loneliness. Poor mental health was reflected in elevated anxiety and depressive symptoms. Results: Four psychosocial profiles were identified, reflecting differing levels of social connection and mental health: (1) low social connection with good mental health, (2) socially connected with good mental health, (3) low social connection with poor mental health and (4) socially connected with poor mental health. People who were younger [odds ratio (OR) = 0.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.85–0.94] and had lower educational attainment (OR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.34–0.58) were more likely to belong to the profile ‘low social connection, poor mental health’ than ‘socially connected, good mental health’. The profile ‘low social connection, good mental health’ showed the lowest probability (0.04) of receiving a positive screen for hazardous alcohol consumption (an AUDIT‐C score of 3/4 or higher for men/women), with the profile ‘socially connected, poor mental health’ having the highest (0.20). The overall chi‐squared (χ ² ) test indicated statistically significant differences in the distribution of the risk of hazardous alcohol consumption across profiles [χ ² = 21.15 (6), P < 0.05]. Summary: Latent profiles of psychosocial health appear to be statistically significantly associated with differences in alcohol consumption among adults aged 50–70 years in Victoria, Australia. The profile ‘socially connected, poor mental health’ has the highest probability of hazardous alcohol consumption, while ‘low social connection and good mental health’ has the lowest.

Introduction: Older adults exhibit unique risks associated with poor mental health and substance use. The Beyond 50 study is a longitudinal cohort investigating the determinants of healthy ageing, including relationships between physical and psychosocial health and substance use. We aim to characterise the Beyond 50 cohort and explore patterns of physical and psychosocial health and substance use. Methods: Baseline data collection was completed between September 2023 and August 2024. Annual follow‐up data collection commenced in September 2024. Descriptive statistics will be used to characterise the cohort at the time of baseline survey completion. Results: Of the 1059 participants, the mean age was 61 years (standard deviation 0.2 years) and 46.8% were female. Just over half (52.4%, n = 555) received a positive screen for potentially hazardous alcohol consumption (past 12‐month use), 8.7% ( n = 92) reported recent tobacco use, 3.7% ( n = 39) reported recent cannabis use and 5.5% ( n = 58) reported other nonmedical substance use. Twelve percent ( n = 134) screened positive for the symptoms of moderate to severe anxiety, 16.4% ( n = 174) screened positive for the symptoms of moderate to severe depression, 15.7% ( n = 166) were moderately to severely lonely and 22.6% ( n = 239) reported being dissatisfied with their social relationships. Discussion and Conclusion: The Beyond 50 cohort displays high rates of alcohol use, with levels of social isolation, loneliness, anxiety and depression comparable to the broader Victoria population. This lends to the cohort's ability to provide further insight into factors that affect healthy ageing and will allow for detailed analysis into the impacts of various physical and psychosocial factors on overall health and wellbeing.

Background: Older adults exhibit unique risks for depression and anxiety, and the current generation of 50–70-year-olds are more likely to engage in risky drinking patterns or use illicit substances than previous generations. Changing metabolism, cognition and physical health changes associated with ageing may compound effects of these behaviours. Adults aged between 50–70 also experience periods of key life transition with changes in work and family dynamics that may contribute to individuals’ ability to age healthily. This protocol paper describes the Beyond 50 Study, a prospective cohort study that aims to investigate the association between key transition periods, physical and psychosocial health, and substance use to uncover insights on healthy ageing. Methods: The Beyond 50 Study aims to recruit a cohort of 1000 adults aged 50–70 years within the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula Local Government Areas in Victoria, Australia, a region with great sociodemographic and geographic diversity. Participants will be interviewed annually using questionnaires that measure health, psychosocial and substance use domains. An ethno-epidemiological approach will be applied, to explore health and social connectedness during pivotal transition periods through in-depth interviews with a subset of participants. These complimentary interviews will inform subsequent follow up surveys. Survey data will be linked with local health data provided through the National Centre for Healthy Ageing Data Platform. Discussion: Findings from the Beyond 50 study will serve as a platform to directly inform local strategies to support healthy ageing, particularly as they relate to substance use and harm. Results will have relevance to healthy ageing in Australia and internationally.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has set goals to eliminate hepatitis C (HCV) as a global health threat by 2030. To meet this goal, Australia must increase testing and diagnosis, including expanding access to care through community pharmacists. This study aims to explore community pharmacists' preparedness to discuss and offer HCV testing and treatment. Australian community pharmacists from four states completed an online anonymous quantitative survey between August and October 2023. Pharmacists were asked about their experiences of, comfort discussing and willingness to host outreach HCV testing or treatment. Predictors of each outcome were examined using logistic regression. In total, 530 pharmacists participated in the study. One in five pharmacists stocked HCV medications (22%), half (48%) were willing/somewhat willing to host an outreach HCV testing and treatment team, while 36% strongly agreed/agreed they were comfortable discussing HCV testing and treatment. Willingness to host an outreach HCV team was associated with pharmacists working in rural/remote settings (95% CI: 1.04–2.35, p = 0.032), providing opioid agonist treatment (95% CI: 1.16–2.49, p = 0.006) and comfort discussing overdose prevention (95% CI: 1.31–2.80, p = 0.001). Pharmacists with ≥ 15 years' experience (95% CI: 0.44–0.94, p = 0.022) were less willing to host outreach HCV testing. Females were significantly less comfortable discussing HCV testing (95% CI: 0.45–0.98, p = 0.039) compared to males. This is the first Australian study to explore community pharmacists' preparedness to discuss and offer HCV testing and treatment. In light of research showing that community pharmacy models of care can help meet HCV elimination targets, ongoing engagement with pharmacists is needed to increase their preparedness to provide this care.

Background: Provision of take-home naloxone (THN) and overdose education reduces opioid-related mortality. In Australia, from July 2022, all Australian community pharmacies were eligible to supply naloxone for free through the national THN Program. Aim: This study aimed to identify naloxone stocking rates and correlates of stocking naloxone across Australian pharmacies. Method: Data were collected from a representative sample of Australian pharmacists in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia via an online survey. Data collected included pharmacy and pharmacist characteristics and services offered within the pharmacy, including needle and syringe programs, opioid agonist treatment (OAT) and stocking naloxone. Binary probit regression analysis was used to identify correlates of stocking naloxone after controlling for key covariates. Results: Data from 530 pharmacists were analysed. In total, 321 pharmacies (60.6%) reported stocking naloxone. Chain pharmacies and pharmacies that provided OAT had a greater probability of stocking naloxone (B = 0.307, 95%CI: [0.057, 0.556], and B = 0.543, 95%CI: [0.308, 0.777] respectively). Most (61.7%) pharmacists felt comfortable discussing overdose prevention with patients who use prescription opioids, and this comfort was associated with a higher probability of stocking naloxone (B = 0.392, 95%CI: 0.128, 0.655). Comfort discussing overdose prevention with people who use illicit opioids was lower (49.4%) and was not associated with stocking naloxone. Conclusion: There is scope to increase stocking of naloxone and comfort with overdose prevention, particularly through addressing comfort working with higher risk groups such as people who use illicit opioids.

Introduction: Provision of take-home naloxone (THN) and overdose education reduces opioid-related mortality. In Australia, from July 2022, all Australian community pharmacies were eligible to supply naloxone for free through the national Take Home Naloxone Program. This study aims to identify naloxone stocking rates and correlates of stocking naloxone across Australian pharmacies. Method: Data was collected from a representative sample of Australian pharmacists in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia via an online survey. Data collected included pharmacy and pharmacist characteristics and services offered within the pharmacy, including needle and syringe programs, opioid agonist treatment (OAT) and stocking naloxone. Binary probit regression analysis was used to identify correlates of stocking naloxone after controlling for key covariates. Results: Data from 530 pharmacists were analysed. In total, 321 pharmacies (60.6%) reported stocking naloxone. Chain and banner pharmacies and pharmacies that provided OAT had a greater probability of stocking naloxone (B = 0.307, 95%CI: [0.057, 0.556], and B = 0.543, 95%CI: [0.308, 0.777] respectively). Most (61.7%) pharmacists felt comfortable discussing overdose prevention with patients who use prescription opioids, and this comfort was associated with a higher probability of stocking naloxone (B = 0.392, 95%CI: 0.128, 0.655). Comfort discussing overdose prevention with people who use illicit opioids was lower (49.4%) and was not associated with stocking naloxone. Conclusion: There is scope to increase stocking of naloxone and comfort with overdose prevention, particularly through addressing comfort working with higher risk groups such as people who use illicit opioids.