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Ray Ekins, 78, has dementia and was prescribed olanzapine, an antipsychotic prohibited for use in older people with dementia. His daughter Susan asked his geriatrician about significant changes in his mood and behavior. He told her that her father was old, and she and Ray would just have to accept it. Susan moved Ray to a new facility in 2014 which helped to wean him off the drugs. 

Monica has dementia and lives with her husband in a facility near Melbourne. Her son realized she was being given a cocktail of drugs when he asked to see her charts. After extensive negotiation, Monica’s doctor and facility staff agreed to wean her off the drugs. Monica went from being hunched and unbalanced to being able to sit, eat, greet people, and dance when her grandson visits and sings.

Older people who need to travel between the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine and government-controlled areas face arbitrary obstacles, including risks to their health and safety. 

Nursing homes across the United States routinely give antipsychotic drugs to residents with dementia to control their behavior, despite regulatory prohibitions on this misuse of drugs as “chemical restraints.” This abusive practice remains widespread even though the use of antipsychotics is associated with a nearly doubled risk of death in older people with dementia. 

Widows in Zimbabwe are routinely evicted from their homes and land, and their property is stolen by in-laws when their husbands die.