ABSTRACT

Rigorous observation and analysis over several years has borne rich fruit. The taxonomies of possible explanation enable us to understand the complex nature of even the most apparently straightforward challenging behaviours. As people with dementia carry out the practical tasks of daily life and pursue comfortable behaviours, the pursuit of appropriate goals may be intrusive. The chapter discusses the most common potential explanations for the main challenging behaviour, which includes aggression, toileting difficulty, wandering, noise making. Aggression may be a defensive reaction to threatening intrusion of personal space. The appearance of a toileting difficulty may be the result of clinical depression. Older people with dementia are many more times more likely to suffer from depression. A person may get up with a task or plan in mind, but then forget what they had intended to do, leaving them wandering aimlessly with no apparent motive. A person's noise making may be a response to unpleasant conditions.