Alzheimer's Society: Tips for carers - questions to ask the doctor about antipsychotics

Summary

Antipsychotic drugs are most commonly prescribed for behavioural and psychological symptoms, such as aggression or hallucinations, in people with dementia. This webpage from the Alzheimer's Society provides information on the prescription of these medications for people living with dementia, their potential side effects, and tips for carers when discussing these treatments with healthcare professionals.

Content

Where possible, both the person with dementia and their carer should be closely involved in decisions about the person’s treatment and should be shown their care plan. Alzheimer's Society suggests that the following questions may help with discussions:

• Why is the person being prescribed an antipsychotic? Which symptoms is the drug meant to be helping with?
• Have possible medical causes of their symptoms (such as infection, pain or constipation) been ruled out?
• Can non-drug approaches be tried first?
• What can I do as a carer to help? Do you need to know more about the person as an individual to work out what may be causing their symptoms?
• How will we know if the drug is working?
• What side effects might the drug cause?
• What is the plan for the person to come off the antipsychotic?
• When will the use of this drug be reviewed?

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