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Research has shown that health care and social service practitioners often lack specific information about the use and abuse of alcohol by older adults and have negative attitudes about working with older adults with alcohol problems. This article reviews the literature on alcohol and older adults and describes a program that was designed to address the need for basic, brief training of practitioners about alcohol problems and the elderly. The training program, intended to improve practitioners' attitudes, knowledge and competencies in this area, was carried out in ten workshops in Canada. Evaluation procedures indicated that the training program was effective in improving practitioners' attitudes and knowledge about older adults with drinking problems, and that information from the workshop was used in subsequent work with older adults with alcohol problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]