Responsive Behaviors

On my friend Susan's blog, she received these comments which put violence and aggressive behavior by persons with dementia into a better perspective:

I am the CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Chatham-Kent in Ontario. Having worked with people with dementia for over 20 years, I have learned so much but also acknowledge that there is so much more to learn. Every day our clients and the staff from our Day Program, Respite Program or Counselling Program reveal something new that needs to be considered when giving care.

If you would be so kind as to indulge me, I wanted to share with you the terminology we use for “aggression” and “violence”. Since those two words immediately bring images and thoughts which put those with dementia in a negative light, we have come up with a term: “Responsive Behaviours” which translated means “all behaviour has meaning.” This fits perfectly with the questions you recently posted on your website. So instead of using aggressive or violent, we say the person is exhibiting Responsive Behaviours which may be caused by environmental or medical needs.