A senate committee inquiry into dementia care has recommended tighter reporting and monitoring of antipsychotic medication within aged care facilities in a bid to curb an increase in the use of chemical restraint to manage residents with dementia.
Under the proposal facilities would be required to report annually to the Aged Care Quality Agency any residents receiving antipsychotic medication for more than six months and the steps taken by the facility to minimise that use.
Providers would also need to report general usage patterns of antipsychotic medication in each facility and GPs would be required to review antipsychotic use after the first three months.
The committee report said a reliance on restraints, both chemical and physical, to manage dementia was not an acceptable model of care and the significant overuse of antipsychotic medication should be curtailed.
Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert, chair of the Community Affairs References Committee, said the issue of restraints was one of the most confronting aspects of the year-long inquiry.
“Evidence to the committee indicated that unfortunately, medication, locked rooms and physical restraints are all measures which are used,” she said.
“The committee heard evidence that in some instances, restraints were used for convenience and the protection of facilities, rather than the clinical needs of the patient.”
However, Senator Siewert said that it was clear that if best practice measures were adopted, the use of restraints could be virtually eliminated.
“The existence of several providers who manage BPSD without reliance on chemical or physical restraints highlights what can be achieved with the current resources available,” said the report, which was released on Wednesday night.
The committee noted that the use of medication was a symptom of the aged care system not placing enough emphasis on staff training and providing a person-centred focus to care.
In light of this evidence, the committee recommended new commonwealth guidelines for the recording and reporting of all forms of restraint in residential facilities and accredited training for all residential aged care employees in the management of the Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD).
The committee report, which made a total of 18 recommendations, warned that if the ratio of dementia patients on antipsychotics did not fall further government involvement would be needed.
The report said the aged care workforce did not currently have the skills and training to adequately support people with dementia and BPSD and there may be a role for the government to encourage providers to raise the skills of their workforce.
The committee said it would expect the additional funding provided to facilities through the new Dementia and Severe Behaviours Supplement would be used to improve staff training.
The committee’s other recommendations covered the establishment of dementia-specific respite facilities, the inclusion of dementia-friendly design principles in aged care accreditation standards and improved linkages between care and education providers.
Read the full report and recommendations from the inquiry into the ‘Care and management of younger and older Australians living with dementia and behavioural and psychiatric symptoms of dementia (BPSD)’ here.
Long overdue but better late than never.
Manslaughter charges should be filed against those prescribing and/or administering anti-osychotic drugs to the elderly especially those with health conditions that would be exacerbated by such prescribing.
It is about time the government did something to stop the drugging of the elderly.
It is an abuse of the elderly’s human rights and health, the government, medical industry and aged care industry should be ashamed of themselves and be held accountable.
Class actions will be taken against all culprits who have abused the elderly with drugs, including the drug companies and doctors, and that is what they deserve.