The appropriate use of chemical and physical restraints for older adults

Abstract Restraint use remains common (and often overused) in older adults. In the Canadian healthcare system, 1 in 4 medical inpatients are physically or chemically restrained. Given the limited benefit and serious harms associated with restraint use, the decision to restrain a patient or not demands strong ethical and clinical justification. This review operationalizes the least restraint principle, synthesizes restraint practice recommendations, and provides a framework to support clinicians in determining the appropriate use of restraints and finding potential alternatives to their use.