Providers are willing to work on ensuring that they are appropriately prescribing antipsychotics to residents, but they may require more support from both legislators and nursing home leadership.
That’s the key takeaway from a new study, published in the November Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Irish researchers came to their conclusions by interviewing 24 nursing home practitioners and three family members on the care of residents with dementia in southern Ireland.
They pinpointed nine different drivers in the prescribing of antipsychotics — ranging from emotion to social influences, beliefs about the consequences of giving such drugs, and environmental context. The theme running through most interviews was that providers strive to achieve a balance between the benefit of keeping staff and residents safe, and the risk of over-sedating individuals.
Authors noted that employing evidence-based practices in prescribing antipsychotics “remains a significant challenge” and developing a guide map could prove useful to providers.
“Greater policy and institutional support is required to help stakeholders strike that ‘fine balance’ and ultimately make better prescribing decisions,” the study concludes.
