Professional care in relation to challenging behavior

If you are or want to become a professional caregiver in nursery homes for people who are showing changes in behaviour due to dementia you actually have to be able to react as a professional. Personally you have your own values which make that you react in a certain way. As a professional you have to take into account a code of conduct and guidelines about how to behave towards the persons you are taking care of.

You need to understand the basic, common emotional and behavioral problems experienced by people with dementia. Understanding the reasons behind emotional and behavioral problems is an important step towards really helping a person with dementia.

They may fear loss of memory and thinking skills, but they also fear the loss of knowing who they are.

They may experience they don’t understand what’s going on or why they feel they are not in control of what is happening around them or to them. All this can affect their behavior.

For caretakers in nursing homes of these people knowledge and awareness of your own values on one hand and the code of conduct and possibly guidelines on the other, is an must to be able to help and communicate with (these) care recipients. Therefore it is important not to take certain reactions personally, as for example signals of anger. This type of reactions can be triggered by the dementia.

It is also important to realize that the attitude and way of communication of the professional has effect on the mood and the behavior of the person with dementia. For example when a caregiver is irritated or working very fast this will affect the feelings and thus the behavior of the care recipient.

In the Netherlands they have described a code of conduct for healthcare workers

As a caregiver in the Netherlands you must:

• Always act in the best interest of the persons with dementia
• Always treat people with respect and compassion
• Promote people’s independence and ability to self-care
• You must also respect a person’s right to refuse to receive healthcare
• Always maintain the privacy and dignity of people making use of healthcare and care services
• Always make sure that your handling does not harm an persons health or well being. You must never abuse, neglect, harm or exploit those who need your help
• Respect the way of living and the habits of the person with dementia.
• Try to build mutual trust.

When you give care to people with dementia you have to show an attitude in which the values of the code of conduct are leading. Besides these values you need qualities to react in a way that is reassuring and helpful for the care recipients. Tranquillity and patience are very important when you interact with people with dementia.

Not everyone has the personal competences to interact professionally with them. For the caregiver it is an emotional challenge to treat people with unexpected behavior. Especially when aggression and anger are shown.

For caregivers it is important that they can share their experiences and emotions. Peer-to-peer learning can be helpful. During practical learning students in the Netherlands are coached by work guides/buddies. They can also have InterVision together and learn from each other. They can share their experiences.

Those buddies have an exemplary role for the students and can create an atmosphere of safety.

To prevent burn-out and irritation it is important that it is possible to talk about the experiences and to support each other. Knowledge and clear appointments how to treat caretakers can help to build up self-confidence. Practical learning gives the opportunity to work together with your supervisor/buddy and tot become a professional caregiver.

Watch this English video that describes typical emotional problems related to dementia:

https://www.dementiacarecentral.com/video/emotions/

The caregivers and students who want to become professional caregivers, have to learn how they can react in a professional way when a person shows unexpected behavior, that is caused by emotional or behavioral changes.

Behavior and emotions are distinct, but often interrelated. Sleep disturbances may cause irritability, and hoarding is a result of anxiety.