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Medicare: Reduce chemical restraints
Antipsychotic drugs, often used to control dementia patients, to be scaled back
By Cathleen F. Crowley
Published 11:32 p.m., Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Every afternoon, the dementia patient headed for the nursing home's exit and she fought off any staff member who got in her way.

After talking with her family, nursing home staff learned the women had picked up her grandchildren at the bus stop for years. Even though she couldn't remember where she was going, she knew she had something to do at 3 p.m., said William R. Hinrichs, director of programs and services at the Alzheimer's Association of Northeastern New York.

To deal with the problem, the nursing home positioned the woman so she couldn't see the clock and kept her busy, or they told her it was Saturday. They didn't use high-powered drugs to calm her down.

"One of our concerns is that often residential care facilities use antipsychotics as the first response to behavioral problems," Hinrichs said.

On Wednesday, Medicare announced an initiative to reduce the use of antipsychotics drugs among dementia patients by 15 percent by the end of the year, using techniques like the one above. Federal officials said such drugs are dangerous for elderly patients with dementia – nearly doubling the risk of death – and are overused as a way to control difficult behaviors of nursing home patients...................>>>>...................>>>>....................Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/loca.....13.php#ixzz1wRVAGrPE

elderly people are dangerous to themselves....there aren't enough 1:1 paid care givers to do such....it's a fallacy fantasy fairy tale told by the government....

WE CANT AFFORD OURSELVES

you can't afford me and I can't afford you

if one is demented what difference does it make if the antipsychotics kill them or their psychosis....dementia is AWEFUL....I work with it every day and it's like
living in a zombie movie....very sad in real life of course.

we make the body live even though the mind is 'dead'.......help me understand why? posterity?

ps....they are 'scaling back' because they won't be able to properly dose once it's in the water supply.....

remember even anti-depressants are readily available to help a dementia patient to 'cope'....but how would we even know other than the outward false happiness.....

it's sad all around......and STILL no real answers