Industry leaders say that the drugs must be used at times to protect residents and staff, and that many of the nondrug approaches being tried require specialized training that far too few nursing home workers have received, and often more staffing.

They note that drug regulators have not approved any medications specifically to manage the difficult behaviors exhibited by residents with dementia, and that physicians are allowed to prescribe antipsychotics “off-label’’ for conditions other than what they were designed for: serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Overall use of the drugs in nursing home patients without mental illnesses has declined since 2005, according to the Globe’s analysis of federal data. The numbers show that Nashoba drove down its use of antipsychotics from six years ago, when nearly a quarter of residents without illnesses warranting antipsychotic use received them anyway. In 2010, that number was zero.

The linchpin was a new director of nursing, Nancy LaRock, who scoured each patient’s files and discovered that roughly 30 of the home’s 120 residents were on antipsychotics. Easily half of them didn’t have a condition that would warrant the medications.

LaRock, who had a background in psychiatric care, started weaning residents off the medications and training staff about alternative strategies.

“One of the biggest challenges was from families,’’ she said. “I got some push-back from families who wanted mom to have this drug because she was so much easier to be with,’’ LaRock said. “As far as I’m concerned, the antipsychotic masks who that person really is.’’

From the circular layout of its Alzheimer’s unit - so residents don’t encounter a dead-end in a hallway, a potential source of stress for those who wander - to the goats and llamas grazing in its pastoral front yard, Nashoba stands out.