21 Jan Dealing With Challenging Behaviour
Using Positive Behaviour Support When Dealing With Challenging Behaviour
Challenging behaviour can be difficult to witness. An adult who is biting, swearing, or throwing items can trigger alarm and fear in those around them. It can look like the person’s out of control and posing a danger to anyone in the vicinity.
But what if we look at challenging behaviour from a different perspective? What if the behaviour is a message to onlookers; a desperate attempt to communicate that something is wrong, and that help is urgently needed to make it better? At Francis House Homecare, dealing with challenging behaviour involves decoding the message, and finding the help that’s required.
What is Positive Behaviour Support?
Positive Behaviour Support begins by trying to understand what someone is attempting to communicate through challenging behaviour. It then considers what adaptations can be made to address their needs improve their quality of life. It’s an approach that involves everyone involved in a person’s care, rather than just the person behaving in a challenging way.
There are any number of ways that someone’s life can be improved. These may include:
- Changing the level of noise in their environment.
- Helping them to make meaningful and positive relationships.
- Changing modes of communication, maybe using images rather than words.
- Adding new activities to their daily routine.
- Developing relationships outside the home environment through work, for example.
Positive Behaviour Support in Practice
If a client is presenting challenging behaviour, Francis House Homecare staff carry out an assessment which helps them understand better what the behaviour is about. They identify the behaviour clearly, specify when and where it occurs, and look at what happens before and after. The period in which the behaviour has developed is also considered, as well as attempting an interpretation of what help is being asked for.
Creating a Behaviour Support Plan
The assessment and creation of a support plan isn’t carried out by a sole individual. Dealing with challenging behaviour is the job of everyone contributing to the environment of the person being assessed, including friends, family, and carers. The plan summarises the support the person and their group need in order to make positive changes and address needs that are currently unmet.
A behaviour support plan focuses on understanding, preventing, and managing challenging behaviour under the following headings:
- Prevention. Ways in which environment changes and adaptations may address unmet needs.
- Monitoring. Early signs of challenging behaviour demonstrate that needs are not being met. Clarification of what those needs are, and how they can be met, are clearly laid out.
- Reaction. How to respond to challenging behaviour in a personalised way and offer the person techniques which allow them to recover and return to positive behaviour.
About Francis House Homecare
Challenging behaviour can create barriers to leading a fulfilled life. Francis House Homecare staff are trained in dealing with challenging behaviour through the use of positive behaviour support. We know that progress doesn’t happen in a straight line, so we plan for ups and downs along the way, and we involve the input of families where it is appropriate.
Would you like to know more about the specialist support Francis House Homecare staff offer to clients in their own homes, or residential care? Call us today on 01234 841808