Centre for Policy on Ageing



Behind labels — what makes behaviour `difficult'?
Author(s)	Anthea Innes
Journal title	Journal of Dementia Care, vol 6, no 5, September/October 1998
Pages	pp 22-25
Keywords	Dementia ; Behaviour disorders ; Attitudes to the old of general public ; Care home staff.
Annotation	The question of who, or what, care assistants find difficult, and why, is a neglected area of research. In the study described in this article, the author aimed to explore the ways in which behaviours are perceived, given meaning, and therefore constructed as `challenging behaviour'. The principal factors contributing to care assistant labelling of residents as `difficult' are if a resident: disrupts the home's routine; creates more work for staff; upsets other residents; and is non-compliant. Care assistants work with residents who engage in many behaviours, none of which is categorically `difficult' or `challenging'. This suggests that the overall perceptions care assistants have of a resident will influence whether that behaviour is given the label `challenging', or whether the resident him/herself is labelled `difficult'. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-981125003 A
Classmark	EA: EP: TOB: QRM
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.