Acknowledgements

Minimising antipsychotic medications

This resource provides a quick referral point for staff caring for people with dementia in residential aged care facilities.

This information is focused on antipsychotics for the support of the neuropsychological symptoms of dementia (responsive behaviours). This resource provides general information only and does not claim to reflect all considerations. As with all guidelines, the recommendations may not be appropriate for use in all circumstances. This guide is not intended to be used for supporting people with acute severe behavioural disturbance. 

When using this resource it is critical to ensure that a person-centred approach to care is adopted at all stages. This is fundamental in the provision of high quality care, particularly when supporting a person with changed behaviour associated with dementia.

This resource was originally produced by the Western Australian Dementia Training Study Centre, School of Pharmacy, Curtin University, with expert advice from Louis Anastasas, Dr Nicholas Bretland, Sandy Crowe, Alison Ilijovski, Anne Moehead, Cathy Nicol and Ann Toh. It is now distributed by Dementia Training Australia, funded by the Australian Government.

© 2022 DTA www.dta.com.au

Dementia Training Australia is supported by funding from the Australian Government under the Dementia and Aged Care Services Fund.

ISBN 978-0-9942935-2-7

© 2016 WA DTSC

The opinions, comments and/or analysis expressed in this resource are those of the author or authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Government, and cannot be taken in any way as expressions of government policy.

Medications That May Adversely Affect Cognition

How to use these resources:

This resource may be used as a reference to provide a starting point in identifying medications that may be adversely affecting a person’s cognition. They are NOT intended to be used as a guide to prescribing decisions.

How this resource was developed:

  1. Medications that may adversely affect cognition were identified from the literature and expert opinion.
  2. Data on the prescribing frequency of all medications in Australian residential aged care was sourced.
  3. Medications that may adversely affect cognition were identified (Medications List).