Improving Education Around High-Risk Psychotropic Medication in Supported Living Facilities

AIMS: Of the medication-related incidents that have been reported in supported living placements, many involved high-risk psychotropic medications such as Clozapine, Lithium and Sodium Valproate. An evaluation of these incidents found problems with administration and inadequate monitoring. Consequently, a virtual education programme was commissioned to educate support staff in living placements in South West Hertfordshire which showed strong positive evidence that the training session improved learning and management surrounding psychotropic medication. This education programme has now been expanded to supported living facilities in the North of the trust to further ameliorate safe medication management and care provision within these placements. The aim of this teaching programme is to provide an educational platform to improve the knowledge and risks associated with Clozapine, Lithium and Sodium Valproate in an effort to reduce medication-related incidents within the placements. METHODS: Virtual training was developed and delivered for support staff across supported living facilities in the Northern directory of the trust. This teaching was collaboratively designed and delivered by a multidisciplinary team including pharmacists, doctors and nurses. The virtual nature of the session lent increased accessibility to staff members from various regions. RESULTS: 28 staff members from 6 support living facilities covering a resident population of over 65,000 people attended the 3-hour virtual education programme. Quantitative studies run on the pilot lecture in the high-risk psychotropic learning programme found strong evidence that this training leads to increased understanding of the administration, management and risk profiling of the aforementioned high-risk medication. CONCLUSION: Education surrounding high-risk medication will reduce long-term incidences of medication-related adverse events. The expansion of this learning programme to the entirety of the Hertfordshire trust is a step further in improving patient care within local mental health services.