Aspects of the Use of Psychoactive Medication Among People with Intellectual Disabilities Who Have Been Resettled from Long‐stay Hospitals into Dispersed Housing

Aspects of the use of psychoactive medication were assessed among 118 adults with intellectual disabilities who had been resettled from long‐stay hospitals into two local dispersed housing services. The resulting data indicated that (1) 69% of people were receiving psychoactive medication primarily for the control of challenging behaviour; (2) only 8% had psychiatric diagnoses; (3) polypharmacy was frequent and (4) medication was continued over long periods sometimes without review. The prescribing practices of general practitioners tended to follow those inherited from the long‐stay hospitals. The findings are compared with recent policy statements concerning the use of anti‐psychotic medication and the need for multidisciplinary medication audit, and contrasted with evidence for the greater efficacy of non‐pharmacological alternatives.