Saw this article below this morning and I thought it’s a very important article to highlight the dangers of over-prescribing psychotropic medication for people with dementia. Some of the risk factors include:
- falls
- bone fractures
- suffer impaired consciousness
It was recommended in the article that non-pharmaceutical options should be the first intervention before the introduction of drugs. It was also recommended that the low doses of the drugs should be prescribed in the initial stages of treatment for BPSD.
As a massive wave of Japanese enter their twilight years, an expert is calling for prudent use of psychotropic drugs to treat dementia patients, some of whom have suffered ill health due to over-prescription.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry released guidelines on how to prescribe such drugs for dementia patients in 2013 to avoid casual prescription by doctors. The Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology is also training doctors on the appropriate application of the drugs…
Click here to read the full article: Expert highlights dangers of over-prescribing psychotropic dementia medication | The Japan Times
Designing for Aged Care 