Background
dementia
Worldwide, the prevalence of dementia among older adults is high, and the prevalence of persons living with severe dementia is on the rise [These residents also take a large number of medications: on average, in Canada in 2016, they were prescribed 9.9 medication classes, compared with 6.7 among seniors living in the community [Optimal medication use in NH residents living with severe dementia, i.e. the use of well-tolerated medications for evidence-based indications, is a challenge [Several recently published studies have focused on the deprescribing of medications for the general NH resident population. A systematic review of 41 randomized controlled trials showed a 59% reduction in potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and a 24% reduction in hospitalizations for this population, when deprescribing interventions were used [The Beers criteria [