Over the past decade, long-term care (LTC) homes across Canada have made important progress in reducing inappropriate antipsychotic use. By focusing on person-centred care strategies to address dementia-related behaviours, these efforts achieved meaningful improvements in quality of care, benefiting residents, care partners and care providers. Between 2014-2015 and 2019-2020, the rate of potentially inappropriate antipsychotic use dropped from 27.2 to 20.2 per cent.

 

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges. Staffing shortages and high turnover made it difficult to sustain progress and rates of inappropriate use have risen in many areas. Healthcare Excellence Canada’s (HEC) newest program, the Sparking Change in the Appropriate Use of Antipsychotics (AUA) Awards Program, aims to support LTC homes to use person-centred care approaches, build upon the previous success and bring teams across Canada together to improve care.

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The AUA approach

 

The AUA approach focuses on person-centred care by tailoring strategies to meet the unique needs of each resident. Responsive behaviours are often a result of unmet needs, confusion or frustration due to changes residents are experiencing. By understanding the resident and their family and creating a care plan centred on their specific needs, it’s often possible to reduce or stop using unnecessary antipsychotic medications. The AUA approach is a full team approach and is most successful when all members of the resident’s care team have a common goal, share and review data and support and reinforce each other’s work. By collaborating, teams can improve residents’ quality of life, foster a positive staff culture and strengthen family involvement.

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