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The first thing we do to confirm that the problem is indeed related to dementia is to rule out any medical, psychiatric, or medication-related causes of the behavior. Is the resident in pain, in need of new glasses or a hearing aid? Is the person suffering from a psychiatric illness such as schizophrenia? Has a new medication been added that may be causing the resident to act out?
We also look at environmental influences, because we know that changes in routine or the environment can cause behavioral problems. Has the resident recently changed rooms? Does she have a new roommate? Our experience has shown that what appears to be agitated behavior may just be a resident's way of expressing needs that can't be communicated in any other way.
When we're confident that the problem behaviors are indeed related to dementia, we begin the next step of evaluating and measuring specific behaviors.
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