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Clifden House has achieved a 40% reduction in medication administered to its
residents since 2007.
Medication is often used to try and control or alleviate the symptoms of
dementia for the 700,000 people with the disease in the UK.
Older people
living in care homes are particularly at risk of being inappropriately
prescribed drugs unlicensed for people with dementia and
often with serious side effects.Quetiapine, for example, has been
proven ineffective for Alzheimer’s patients and yet dementia patients account
for almost 30% of sales.
The benefits of reducing surplus
medication are to return to that individual the living potential to make and
action their own choices about the course of their lives, whether over food, activities
or relationships or any other.
At Clifden House, a full audit of medication carried out for all
residents uncovers unnecessary drugs and adverse effects. The centre then
applies to each resident’s individual GP to have these drugs removed from their
prescriptions or the doses reduced. The centre is
also able to administer over the counter remedies that would otherwise be
prescription based, so ensuring they are only given when needed.
One resident, Mrs M, has advanced
dementia and would repeat a single word repetitively, even in response to
conversation with others. She was prone to falls because she was so sedated,
was unresponsive, prone to pressure sores from immobility and had to be fed.
When the centre was able to review and reduce her medication, she came back to
life. Her working vocabulary expanded and she could now engage in body language
responses, such as smiling and saying 'good morning' and enjoyed word games and
books. She even taps her hand along to music. She can mobilise independently
without falling and can choose where she goes throughout the home and gardens
and when. She now also chooses what and when she wants to eat.
The centre was recently asked why a
resident did not possess any medication records when they left the home for
external treatment. It replied that they did not take any medication, and was
met with blank stares and amazement and the comment, ‘But she has dementia!’
Clifden House’s continuing efforts have been positively supported by local
psychiatric GP’s and social workers.
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