Psychotropic Medication Prescribing Practice Among Residents With Dementia in Nursing Homes: A Person-Centered Care Approach

摘要

Despite multiple national initiatives to improve quality of life in nursing home (NH) residents with dementia, inefficiencies still exist regarding inappropriate psychotropic medication use to manage communication of distress. The goals of the current article are to: (a) create a person-centered care plan/process for NH community staff to manage challenging dementia behaviors; (b) provide guidelines for geriatric practitioners (GPs) to decrease psychotropic medication use in residents with dementia; (c) discuss organizational culture and its relationship to the management of non-cognitive neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) of dementia; and (d) emphasize nonpharmacological approaches as first-line treatment of NPS in NH residents with dementia.