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Antipsychotic Drugs

Used appropriately, medications can cure disease, ease pain, and enhance quality of life. Used inappropriately, drugs can cause disability, pain, and decrease quality of life. Antipsychotic drugs affect the brain and influence thinking, feeling, and reacting. These drugs pose special risks for older people and increase the risk of death in persons with dementia. Antipsychotic drugs used to treat behavioral symptoms in place of good care are called chemical restraints.

Click on the links below to find more information on the topic of the misuse of antipsychotic medications.

Resources for Produced by NORC
Resources Produced by Consumer Voice
Common Antipsychotics Inappropriately Prescribed to Nursing Home Residents
National Data on Antipsychotic Use in Nursing Homes
Other Useful Resources and Links
Ombudsman Program Examples
Information to Share with Consumers

Resources Produced by NORC

Toolkit

The National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center (NORC) developed a toolkit (in part through a grant from AoA/ACL) on the misuse of antipsychotic medications among nursing home residents. This toolkit contains take-away resources for consumers, family members, and advocates. The toolkit explains how to recognize symptoms of the improper use of antipsychotics; the rights of residents under federal nursing home laws and regulations; and advocacy considerations for consumers, family members, and advocates. The contents of the toolkit include the following:

Webinar

In September 2012, the National Ombudsman Resource Center hosted a webinar entitled "Ending Misuse of Antipsychotics in Long-Term Care." This webinar included a discussion of the dangers and signs of inappropriate antipsychotic drug use, successful alternative person-centered treatments and therapies, resources for more information and current national and state-level efforts to reduce inappropriate medications.

Mary Evans, MD CMD - President, Virginia Medical Directors Association (PDF)
Morris Kaplan, Esq., NHA - President, Kaplan Health Management, LLC and Operating Partner, Gwynedd Square Nursing Center (please note that the videos have been deleted from this version) (PDF)
Claire Curry - Legal Director, Civil Advocacy Program of the Legal Aid Justice Center (PDF)
Also, a recording of the webinar can be downloaded.

Resources Produced by Consumer Voice

Avoiding Drugs as Chemical Restraints: Changing the Culture of Care Consumer Education Campaign

National Data on Antipsychotic Use in Nursing Homes

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Nursing Home Compare Website
This resource allows users to research data on individual nursing homes, including the percentage of residents receiving antipsychotic medications under the section entitled 'Quality Measures'. It also lists the state average and the national average of antipsychotic use in comparison to each individual nursing home's data.

ProPublica's Nursing Home Inspect Website
This resource allows you to search nursing home inspection reports listing deficiencies cited in nursing homes nationwide. You can search by state, severity of the deficiency and by keyword to find deficiencies related to the inappropriate use of antipsychotic medications in individual nursing homes.