TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia and their management in care homes within the East of England: a postal survey
JO  - Aging and mental health
A1  - Backhouse, Tamara
A1  - Killett, Anne
A1  - Penhale, Bridget
A1  - Burns, Diane
A1  - Gray, Richard
SP  - 187
EP  - 193
VL  - 18
IS  - 2
N2  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of antipsychotic use in care homes. To explore which behaviours care home staff can find difficult to manage and which non-pharmacological interventions are currently used within care homes to help cope with behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. <br><br>METHOD: A postal survey sent to all care homes registered as specialising in the care of older people or/and older people with dementia within four counties in the East of England (n = 747). <br><br>RESULTS: Questionnaires were returned from 299 care home managers (40%). The vast majority (n = 200, 73%) reported having at least one resident with an antipsychotic prescription in their home. Twelve percent (n = 1027) of care home residents were reported to be prescribed antipsychotic medications. Aggression was most frequently reported, by 37% (n = 109) of care home managers, as a difficult behaviour to manage. Non-pharmacological interventions were reported to be used in 87% (n = 253) of care homes. The interventions most commonly used in care homes to manage difficult behaviours were reminiscence (75%, n = 219) and music therapy (73%, n = 213). <br><br>CONCLUSION: This survey was a first attempt to estimate the use of antipsychotics in care homes. Despite measures to reduce antipsychotic use for all people with dementia in England, we found that 12% of care home residents were still prescribed antipsychotic medication. Around half of all care home managers reported they had experienced behaviours they found difficult. Antipsychotic medications and a variety of non-pharmacological interventions appear to be used concurrently in many care homes.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1360-7863
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2013.819834
ID  - ref1
ER  -