Health professionals’ experience of nursing home residents’ consumption of alcohol and use of psychotropic drugs

Abstract

Background: Nursing home (NH) residents are in most cases in older ages and use prescription drugs. As alcohol interacts with many commonly prescribed drugs, NH residents may be more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol. Aim: To investigate the experiences of health professionals in Norwegian NHs when it comes to residents' alcohol consumption and use of psychotropic drugs, and the facilitation of such use in the NH. Method: Focus-groups and individual interviews with NH health professionals were performed in 2017 and 2018. The data were analysed using content analysis. Findings: Two main themes emerged: (1) the balancing of alcohol consumption, and (2) the use of psychotropic drugs. Each of these themes involved reasoning, which revealed that the informants in general had little attention regarding alcohol consumption among residents, and few institutions had policies regarding serving and consumption of alcohol. The informants reported an increased attention regarding use of psychotropic drugs and a tendency towards less use of psychotropic drugs among the residents than before, but few informants reported use of standardised observations tools of symptoms related to prescribing and discontinuation of drugs. Conclusion: Alcohol policies or procedures related to alcohol consumption were uncommon at the NH that the interviewees of this study represented, and the professionals regarded infrequent serving and consumption of alcohol among the residents as a part of everyday life. In cases when residents frequently consumed alcohol, the professionals used dialogue to underpin the adherent risks and they also tried to control the consumption of the resident in different ways. The interviewees were aware of various side-effects of psychotropic drugs; they were also aware of their effects in combination with alcohol.

Health Professionals’ Experiences Regarding Alcohol Consumption and Its Relation to Older Care Recipient’s Health and Well-Being

“…The two major themes encompassed four subthemes: (i) alcohol may contribute to pleasure and better quality of life, (ii) alcohol needs to be restricted if alcohol consumption is harmful, (iii) practice and collaboration related to residents’, use of psychotropic drugs and (iv) changes in use of psychotropic drugs as a part of treatment and care. 50 …”

“…The two major themes encompassed four subthemes: (i) alcohol may contribute to pleasure and better quality of life, (ii) alcohol needs to be restricted if alcohol consumption is harmful, (iii) practice and collaboration related to residents', use of psychotropic drugs and (iv) changes in use of psychotropic drugs as a part of treatment and care. 50 Study II was an investigation of nurses', OTs' and PTs' perceptions and experiences of alcohol and psychotropic drug use among older people and the extent to which this was an issue in terms of the planning and implementation of in-home health services. The study was conducted using individual in-depth interviews with 16 health professionals working in the home care sector.…”

Dealing with qualitative work

“… Johannessen and colleagues (2021) investigate the experiences of health professionals in Norwegian nursing homes in terms of residents’ alcohol consumption and use of psychotropic drugs. Schamp and colleagues (2021) have designed a study for better understanding the barriers and facilitators for seeking treatment as experienced by substance-using women.…”

Family’ members experiences of their older relative’s alcohol and substance misuse

“…Neither national alcohol guidelines or the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5) provide a definition of elevated consumption levels for older adults (Hoffmann & Kopak, 2015 ). Nevertheless, there is consensus that older adult should limit their alcohol consumption to one unit per day or less, and that even very low levels of alcohol consumption may be hazardous for frail older adults (Fillmore et al, 2007 ; Johannessen et al, 2015 , 2021 ). This study focusses on participants’ experiences of their relative’s alcohol and/or substance misuse problems.…”

“…Few studies have examined how family members experience their older relative’s alcohol and substance misuse. This knowledge is urgently needed to develop targeted health services and interventions (Duckert et al, 2008 ; Johannessen et al, 2015 , 2021 ; Kjosavik, 2012 ).…”