Oklahoma nursing homes have reduced their use of antipsychotic drugs in residents with dementia by about 15 percent in the past year, according to data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
It is one of 11 states and the only one in its region to have met the 15 percent goal set by the agency.
Nursing homes have been criticized for using antipsychotics on dementia patients to calm and sedate them. Antipsychotics aren't recommended for those patients.
"You don't use antipsychotic drugs to control behavior," said Dorya Huser, chief of long-term care at the Oklahoma State Department of Health. "It's not what they're for."
The use of antipsychotics on residents with dementia in Oklahoma nursing homes went from 27.32 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 23.04 percent in the first quarter of 2013, according to CMS.
That was the seventh-largest decrease in the country, according to the Health Department.
The Health Department, working with nursing home administrators and other organizations, went to nursing homes to educate staff about how to cut back on the use of antipsychotics in patients with dementia.
They were able to target homes with a particularly high usage.
"Our main goal was to not just say reduce your numbers, but to help them have the tools and the information and the resources needed to really address the underlying issues with these residents, Huser said.
If a resident is causing a problem, medication isn't always the answer. Sometimes a resident just needs to be more engaged, Huser said.
"A lot of times they need some attention," she said. "People are sad. Giving them a pill isn't always the cure. Sometimes they need more meaningful activities. They need some attention in the form of some exchange with facility staff."
Rebecca Moore, executive director of the Oklahoma Association of Health Care Providers, said residents with dementia often can't communicate that something is wrong.
Facility staff have been trained to get to the root cause of an outburst. Often, it can just mean a resident is in pain, she said.
"It's taught facilities to look at the reasons for the behavior instead of using drugs to control it," she said.
The state will work to further reduce its use of antipsychotics on patients with dementia but is proud of the progress it has made so far, she said.
"Oklahoma just really embraced it," she said. "We worked hard and communicated. We had a lot of training."
Shannon Muchmore 918-581-8378
shannon.muchmore@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Fewer dementia patients given antipsychotic drugs
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