Decreasing use of antipsychotic meds target of Central Health pilot project

Central Health says it's already working on a project that will hopefully reduce the rate of antipsychotic medications prescribed to long-term care patients.

A study released last week by the Canadian Institute of Health (CIHI) showed central Newfoundland is falling short in the use of "potentially inappropriate antipsychotics in long-term care."

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The study showed that 42 per cent of seniors in homes in Central Health's jurisdiction are on antipsychotic medications they may not necessarily need.

Heather Brown, vice-president of rural health with Central Health, says this is an issue the health authority has already been working on for a year.

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In Central Newfoundland, forty-two percent of seniors in homes are on anti-psychotic drugs they don't need. That's considerably higher than the national average of twenty-eight percent.

"While we're doing really well in some of our indicators, we know that this is a particular indicator we are really concerned about," she told CBC's Central Morning Show Monday.

Brown said a year ago Central Health joined a pilot project with the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement that took 17 health authorities across Canada with this similar issue.

"We actually work with four of our 11 homes and in those four homes we did education sessions with staff, we work with families of residents and the multi-disciplinary team of caregivers and we implemented some education," said Brown.

Some patients unable to communicate what they feel

According to Brown, the project allowed the health authority to offer different medical approaches to better understand patients who may be unable to communicate what's happening to them, leading to behavioural issues.

"They may have pain, they may be anxious [or feel] fear or sometimes even boredom, and [are] not really connecting with the individual interests of the various residents," she said.

Brown said the pilot project has been a success at the four homes, thanks to collaboration with other Canadian health authorities.

"While our goal was a 15 per cent reduction in the use of antipsychotic medications for those particular residents in the study, we actually achieved a 26 per cent decrease in antipsychotic medication use for those residents," she said.

Central Health will be moving similar programs into the remaining seven homes.

Three homes are up next in January, and Brown said she hopes all 11 long-term care facilities in the jurisdiction will be on board by the end of 2016.