Providing care to someone with challenging behaviour

You may find the person you care for is challenging in their behaviour. ‘Challenging’ is often defined as when a person is putting themselves or those around them at risk, including yourself as their carer, or where their behaviour is going to lead to a poorer quality of life. It can also impact their ability to join everyday activities. It can include aggression, self harm, destructive behaviour, and disruptiveness.  

It is often seen in people who have a learning disability or a mental health problem such as dementia and it can affect the person’s ability to communicate.  

1. As a carer try to understand why the person is behaving in the way they are. For example, they might feel anxious or bored or be in pain. They may be behaving in a certain way to get your attention. If this is the case then consider not responding directly to their behaviour although you should not ignore them completely.
2. Look out for the warning signs. This way you may be able to prevent behavioural outbursts. For example, the person you care for may feel anxious or agitated if in large groups, so you could arrange for them to be in small groups or have one to one support.
3. See if it helps to distract the person or focus the person’s energies elsewhere and this can prevent the person from displaying challenging behaviours.
4. If their behaviour puts them or someone else at risk then intervene as calmly as possible.
5. If you’re finding it hard to cope with the behaviour of the person you look after, go to the above websites for further information and ask your GP to refer you to a specialist.