Characteristics of Older Men that Drink Alcohol: A Case Study of Nyabubare Sub-County Bushenyi District

Abstract

Alcohol abuse is a global problem which has affected both rural and urban communities in Uganda. The problem negatively impacts the socio-economic, psychological, and physiological well being of the abusers. The menace of alcoholism has strangled the Ugandan population reducing them to drooling figures who waste the prime of their lives. The overall objective of thestudy is to investigate the characeteristics of old men that drink alcohol in Nyabubaresub county. The researcher used a qualitative and quantitative research design, in an area which has 82 respondents were sampled. On the basis of findings, the study concluded that alcohol abuse was increasingly common in married individuals (76.8%). Majority of urban households had experienced cases of alcohol abuse. Peer pressure, easy access to alcohol and idleness were the leading contributors to alcohol abuse in the rural households. Commonly experienced effects of alcohol abuse were domestic violence, discordant families, poverty and living in deplorable conditions, loss of employment and non-provision of families. Cheap alcoholic brands were preferred by the low-income earners because they could not afford the ordinary beer. The study showed that at least each household had 6 members on average which is a significant number to be a burden to the head of the household and imperative for them not to engage in alcoholism. majority of the respondents were none educated which goes to shows that alcohol could be a problem among people of Nyabubare sub-county. It was 68.3% of the total sample The researcher recommends that all institutions around the family should come together and support the victims of alcohol abuse through education and sensitization, moral support, provision of alternative engagement as a source of livelihood other than alcohol trade and revision of policies governing the licensing of alcoholic drinks.