Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Abuse: Reducing chemical straitjackets in nursing homes


NYTimes

The Two Harbors home happened to be where Ecumen, which operates 16 nonprofit Minnesota nursing homes, was preparing an experiment to see if behavioral rather than pharmacological approaches could help wean residents off antipsychotic medications. They called it the Awakenings program.

“What’s people’s biggest fear? Being a ‘zombie’ in a nursing home,” said Laurel Baxter, the Awakenings project manager.

Any visitor can see what she means. Even in quality nursing homes, some residents sit impassively in wheelchairs or nod off in front of televisions, apparently unable to interact with others or to summon much interest in their lives. Nursing home reformers and regulators have long believed that this disengagement results in part from the overuse of psychotropic medication to quell the troublesome behaviors that can accompany dementia — yelling, wandering, aggression, resisting care. For nearly 25 years, federal law has required that psychotropic drugs (which critics call “chemical restraints”) be used only when necessary to ensure the safety of a resident or those around her. [...]


2 comments:

  1. One thing that I don't understand about gedolei yisroel is why don't they sit down together and discuss the issues and try to resolve it that way rather than get all of their "chasidim" who are just looking for action to go out and protest? Why doesn't Rav Elyashiv and Rav Ovadia Yosef have a meeting and discuss the issues together, work out what concerns and sevaros each person has and try to reach a resolution that doesn't cause so much machlokes and chilul hashem?

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  2. What's ig got to do with the article.As for your post.the latest news in israel(and video)answers your question.

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