Caring for patients with dementia has always been a challenging job. Patients suffer varying degrees of memory loss, confusion, agitation, anger, and acting-out. What works for one dementia patient may not work for another. Each case is different and deserves to be treated as such. The options are few. The goal, of course, is to provide care that keeps residents comfortable and responds to their needs without drugs whenever possible.
While once considered accepted practice to treat Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias with antipsychotic drugs, we now know that improperly prescribed antipsychotic medications may be dangerous to people with dementia. Hence, Medicare and Medicaid are working to lower the improper use of antipsychotic drugs in dementia patients. It is important to carefully supervise and document the circumstances giving rise to the “need” for administering antipsychotic medications: what non-medication treatments were tried? Is “informed consent” for the medication adequately documented in the medical record? Who will monitor the treatment? For further information about the use of antipsychotic medications in long-term care, see: http://www.ltccc.org.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
