Better dementia drugs training could save up to 20,000 lives

EXTRA dementia training for care home staff could save up to 20,000 lives a year.

Scientists found that better support for residents suffering from the illness led to a significant reduction in mortality, higher quality of life and lower rates of depression, apathy and aggression.

In a nine-month study they focused on training to reduce the use of antipsychotic medicine and on increasing social interaction with dementia patients.

Seventy per cent of care home residents have the illness and the vast majority are over-medicated and left for hours at a time without any human interaction. Experts warn the average patient talks for only two minutes every six hours.

The study by dementia experts at Exeter University, King’s College London and Oxford Health Trust examined 67 homes and involved 847 patients.

Clive Ballard, presenting the findings at the Alzheimer’s Association conference in Chicago, said out of 64 deaths there were 12 fewer in the homes that had received the extra training. Replicated across the UK, he calculates this would prevent 20,000 dementia deaths. Providing proper training for care assistants would cost around £4,500 for every life saved.

‘We were able to demonstrate a 36 per cent reduction in mortality,’ said Professor Ballard. ‘If this was a drug, £4,500 to save a life would be a no brainer.’

He said the main impact on mortality came from cutting use of antipsychotics, which are known to be dangerous but are still widely used for dementia patients. Nine months after the training, antipsychotic use was reduced by 50 per cent.

‘Usually GPs visit once a week, and they do not always review the drugs,’ he said. ‘If you educate care assistants, you empower them to take action, to make sure antipsychotics are reviewed frequently – that can make a big difference.

‘We are constantly told staff don’t have enough time. But it doesn’t have to be a big set piece – it can be talking to them while helping them to get dressed, while taking them a cup of tea. That additional social interaction makes a big difference. Just take a moment to imagine life with just two minutes of social interaction each day.

‘To accept this is discrimination against people with dementia. We urgently need to do better.’

Joanne McDermid of King’s College London said: ‘ Care home staff are under a lot of pressure – it’s a really tough job. It’s a challenging environment, both for residents living with dementia and for staff.

‘Our programme moved care staff to see dementia through the eyes of those who are living it.’

Assistants in the 28,000 care homes in the UK usually require no formal training – and doctors say the training that is available is not based on any evidence that it actually works.

‘Taking them a cup of tea’