Residents of long-term care facilities are increasingly being placed on antipsychotic medications despite having no proper diagnosis to warrant their use. Twenty-six percent (26%) of all nursing home residents are given antipsychotic medications. Use is even higher (nearly 40%) among residents with dementia - the very individuals that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns are at serious risk of medical complications and death from taking antipsychotics. In addition, far too often the dangers of these medications are not even discussed with residents and their families and are administered without consent.

Information and Guides

• Caregiver's Guide to Understanding Dementia from the Family Caregiver Alliance
• Misuse of Antipsychotic Medications: An Information and Advocacy Toolkit from the Consumer Voice
• Encouraging Comfort Care; A Guide for Families of People with Dementia Living in Care Facilities from the Alzheimer’s Association-Greater Illinois Chapter
• Patient and Family Resources from the Iowa Geriatric Education Center
• Overprescribed: The Human and Taxpayers' Costs of Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes Testimony of Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General, Department of Health & Human Services

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