What are responsive behaviours

When we ask people who work or live with people who have dementia about the number one difficulty they face as a care provider, the answer is always challenging behaviour, such as aggression, wandering, physical resistance or agitation.
We call this behaviour “responsive,” because it is not unpredictable, meaningless aggression or agitation but is due to circumstances related to the person’s condition or a situation in his or her environment. People with responsive behaviours and their caregivers need high levels of support.

One of the changes that many caregivers have difficulty with is a change in the person with dementia’s behavior.

U-First! is based on an approach where we need to understand the person’s behavior. The term “responsive” behaviour helps us to see that the individual is responding to something negative, frustrating, or confusing in the person’s environment. It helps us see that the reasons or triggers for challenging behaviours may be external, rather than within, the individual. This approach recognizes that problems in the social or physical environment can be addressed and changed.