She says both of these elements can catalyze success, especially with OMNI’s supportive measures philosophy underpinning the background.

Supportive measures is an individualized approach to care that uses creative interventions to ease residents' agitation and reduce reliance on psychotropic medications.

"Our doctor trusts us and trusts what this home is doing," says Mary Lynn.

"He doesn’t feel threatened by different interventions like supportive measures, and that’s a real key," she says.

Mary Lynn points out it is the doctor who orders the drugs based on information from nursing staff and his own observations when he visits. "He trusts our assessments and our interventions."

The administrator and director of care says another important means for finding success in reducing medications of all kinds is having "good reporting" from personal support workers (PSWs), the front line of a long-term care home.

"When they (PSWs) share what they’re seeing to the registered staff, it helps us to have a greater understanding of what needs there are," says Mary Lynn.

This might include "behaviour mapping," where documentation is kept that records certain behaviours at particular times of the day. With this information, health practitioners can assess when a medication is most needed, rather than recommending it throughout the day.

Mary Lynn says it all comes down to making sure everyone "is on the same page."

"If the evening shift is doing something that is working but doesn’t tell the day shift, as an example, then we wouldn’t be working effectively," says Mary Lynn.

According to a new study, residents of long-term care homes in Ontario are less likely than seniors living in the general community to receive “potentially inappropriate” drugs. The recently released study, conducted by the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, found people who live in long-term care homes were 48 per cent less likely to be dispensed a drug that is “rarely appropriate” or should always be avoided for seniors because the risks outweigh the benefits.

“All drugs come with some degree of side effects,” says Dr. Paula Rochon in a news release. She is a geriatrician and scientist with Baycrest who co-authored the study.

“The take-home message from our study is that every effort should be made to choose a drug that will be best tolerated in older and frailer individuals, with the least potential for adverse side effects.”

The study says the discrepancy between seniors in long-term care and those living in the community may be attributed to the more regulated guidelines in Ontario long-term care homes when it comes to prescribing practices. “The pharmacist is required to prepare a record of each resident’s drug regimen every three months for the primary care physician. No comparable program exists for older adults in the community,” the press release says.