The Acceptability and Usefulness of Positive Behaviour Support Education for Family Carers of People With Frontotemporal Dementia: A Pilot Study

"It's Opened My Eyes to a Whole New World": Positive Behaviour Support Training for Staff and Family Members Supporting Residents With Dementia in Aged Care Settings

OBJECTIVES

This study examined the acceptability and usefulness of Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) training in enhancing the capabilities of support staff and family members providing behaviour support to residents with dementia in residential aged care (RAC).

METHODS

A mixed-methods pilot study was conducted across 3 RAC organisations, involving pre- and post-training questionnaire assessments for clinical leaders (n = 8), support staff (n = 37) and family members (n = 18).

RESULTS

Findings indicated increased confidence among support staff and family members in providing behaviour support, with 96% indicating it would support their practices across settings. Key training benefits included identifying and addressing underlying causes of challenging behaviours. A majority (89%) expressed the need for further behaviour support training.

CONCLUSION

Recommendations focus on developing systems to enable effective and collaborative behaviour support practices. Further research is needed to examine application of PBS principles and planning for residents living with dementia.

Management of Agitation in Behaviours That Challenge in Dementia Care: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Non-Pharmacological Strategies

Objective

NICE guidelines recommend non-pharmacological interventions as the first-line approach for the management of behaviours that challenge. Recent work, however, highlights dissatisfaction with the lack of detailed guidance in the national guidelines regarding non-drug interventions. This study examines the views of practitioners regarding non-pharmacological treatments. It further explores perspectives on non-pharmacological strategies used in the management of agitation occurring within episodes of behaviours that challenge.

Methods

Forty-two experienced practitioners attended a workshop where behaviours that challenge were described as occurring in three phases of agitation, using a framework adapted from the Positive Behaviour Support framework (pre-agitation, triggering and escalating, high level). The participants were asked to populate a template derived from the adapted framework. The completed templates recorded the clinical strategies the participants found useful to (i) prevent the occurrence of agitation, (ii) de-escalate distress and (iii) deal with perceived high levels of agitation.

Results

The Positive Behaviour Support conceptual framework was perceived by participants as helpful in organising their clinical work. A number of interventions were suggested as preventative strategies: music therapy, doll therapy, physical activity and generic person-centred communication skills to enhance wellbeing. In contrast, de-escalation strategies identified by the participants focused on reducing emotional distress. The approaches for dealing with continued high levels of agitation involved a number of "control and restraint" techniques as well as medication.

Conclusion

The template allowed specialist multidisciplinary professionals to identify skills for the management of distress and agitated behaviour linked to the respective phase of arousal. The template has scope to guide practitioners to identify the detail needed for the management of behaviours that challenge. The findings have the potential to influence the contents of forthcoming guidelines on alternatives to psychotropics in dementia care.