Principles of Behavior Management and Avoiding Over-stimulation with Dementia – Principle 7

Understanding the changes in mental or cognitive functioning that come with dementia gives caregivers effective approaches to reduce or avoid behavior problems. These behavioral approaches can minimize emotional flare-ups, power struggles, and physical outbursts. Ideally, these approaches can also reduce the amount of psychoactive medications that are needed.

This is another CoHealth blog on caring for individuals with dementia, whether they are residing in nursing homes, residential and assisted living settings, or in their own homes. An important principle in behavior management is to use isolation when the person becomes agitated due to over-stimulation, and move him to another room or setting that is less stressful and less stimulating. This can frequently occur in residential settings, where the level of activity and programming can be too stressful and demanding for the impaired resident to comprehend and process. Dementia produces a difficulty in processing incoming information, generally both auditory and visual information, and too much stimulation can lead to agitation, restlessness and irritability. A related principle is to be on the lookout for what are called precursor behaviors, or signs of an imminent outburst. These include rocking, pacing, clenched fists, or flushed face, all of which suggest more serious problems are on their way. Stay attuned and intervene quickly in the face of these precursor behaviors, and more serious outbursts can be avoided. When settled down again, the person can return back to the activity.

The more behavioral interventions we have in our caregiving repertoire, the more we can minimize potential problems and the more we can focus on the positive experiences of these individuals under our care. More approaches can be found in the CoHealth website's online courses, such as behavior management, understanding and differentiating depression, dementia, and delirium, and helping families with nursing home placement.