Many people with dementia in nursing homes experience problem behavior. Often, behavior-influencing or calming medications (psychotropic drugs) are prescribed for this, but these usually do not work very well and can have unpleasant side effects. In addition, these medications are sometimes used longer than recommended, or their use is not properly evaluated. It is better to consider these medications only when psychosocial interventions do not help sufficiently or when the problem behavior is very severe.
It is important to understand why someone exhibits problem behavior. This can be done with a team of various professionals, such as a physician, psychologist and nurse, who then create a treatment plan together. Psychosocial interventions focus on the resident, but also on nursing home staff, so they can better identify, analyze, treat, and evaluate problem behavior. However, it can be difficult to apply these complex interventions, which are aimed at multiple disciplines, properly. This is one of the reasons why psychotropic drugs are still often prescribed.
The aim of this study of Claudia Groot Kormelinck was to reduce the use of these medications and, when they were prescribed, to ensure that this aligned as closely as possible with the guidelines. To this end, researchers worked together with various disciplines within nursing homes to develop a plan that addressed the challenges they encountered. An external coach supported the implementation of this plan with tailored solutions for problem behavior.
The study shows that this approach can lead to less use of these medications, but not to more appropriate use.
