Appropriate Use of Antipsychotics (AUA) Toolkit

Provincial Seniors Health & Continuing Care

Alberta Continuing Care Act Effective April 1, 2024

References to continuing care (including home care, designated supportive living, long term care and hospice) may not reflect the updated language or terms found in the new Alberta Continuing Care Act effective April 1, 2024. Refer to the Continuing Care Glossary for definitions.

The Appropriate Use of Antipsychotic (AUA) Toolkit and accompanying resources, provides individuals, families, clinicians and care teams with guidance regarding the assessment and management of responsive behaviours associated with cognitive impairment (dementia, delirium) and appropriate use of medications in older adults.

These information and resources are for all individuals involved in the care and support of older Albertans. Care environments providing care to older adults include Long Term Care, Supportive Living, Home Care and Acute Care.

The AUA work is led by the Clinical Innovation and Practice Support Team (formerly Seniors Health SCN) with the Provincial Seniors Health and Continuing Care (PSHCC) team.

View AUA Project Background & Acknowledgements

How Can We Help?

For more information regarding AUA education, support, consult and inquiries, contact: aua@ahs.ca

Archives

AUA Tools, Resources & eLearning Modules

Provincial Guideline

Restraint as a Last Resort Provincial Policy

Medication Review

Clinical Information for Prescribers and Pharmacists

Resources for Person-Centred Care Planning

Responsive Behaviour Tracking

eLearning Modules - Appropriate Use of Antipsychotics (AUA)

Responsive Behaviour Prevention: Dementia Friendly Environments
Involving Families in AUA
Meaningful Activities
Quality Improvement (QI) Project: Reduce Antipsychotics

Clinical Resources for Care Staff

Clinical Resources for Prescribers and Pharmacists

Quality Improvement Strategies and Tools

Getting Started:

Build Awareness:

Create Desire:

Develop Knowledge and Ability:

Reinforce Change

QI Project: Prevent Delirium on Dementia
QI Project: Support Sleep in Dementia
Dementia Education Resources

For best viewing of the videos and learning modules, copy and paste the url into Google Chrome .

Interactive Learning Modules

Appropriate Use of Antipsychotics (AUA):

Videos

  • Island Health Dementia Video Series
    Some of the available titles include:
    • Responsive Behaviors
    • Hallucinations or Delusions
    • Repetition
    • Personal Care
  • WorkSafeBC: videos, dementia
    • 1. Introduction (2:41)
    • 2. How to approach residents (5:39)
    • 3. How to distract and redirect (2:44)
    • 4. Stop and assess(3:14)
    • 5. When all the right stuff doesn't work(4:33)
    • 6. Easing the stress (4:00)
  • Teepa Snow: videos, resources, races
  • Terra Nova Films, film and inservice previews :
    • Creating Moments of Joy (2:11)
    • Creating a Home in Nursing Homes (2:52)
    • Dementia with Dignity (2:52)
    • Dealing with Physical Aggression in Caregiving (2:46)
  • Choose from a number of available videos. Our top picks:

Dementia Resources

Resident Success Stories

We are Detectives (video): care teams come together to improve lives of vulnerable seniors.

More