ABSTRACT
Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) is a term used to describe problematic behaviours displayed by people with progressive cognitive decline. Until recently, a medicalized perspective was oen used for BPSD and the treatments chiey involved the use of psychotropic medication. Empirical evidence suggests that such treatments are frequently ineective and highly problematic (Banerjee, 2009; Barnes et al., 2012). is chapter takes a biopsychosocial view of BPSD, preferring the term ‘Behaviours that Challenge’ (BC), illustrating that these behaviours are products of a number of factors including individualistic, social and organizational features. e emphasis is, therefore, on understanding and acting on causal factors rather than symptom alleviation. Hence, it is logical that the treatment of BC needs to reect this aetiology (James, 2011).
