9: Reducing behavioral excesses

  • Learn three basic principles for reducing excessive behavior
  • Practice three specific behavior management strategies

Three Basic Principles

  1. Reduce identified antecedents for problem behavior;
  2. Reduce identified consequences that maintain problem behavior;
  3. Reward desired behaviors.

Either of these or a combination of two or more strategies can be used for any given behavior.


Reduce identified antecedents for problem behavior

Reduce situations that trigger behavior.

Help patients get needs met in appropriate ways.

Show Examples


Reduce identified consequences that maintain problem behavior

Minimize the effectiveness of problem behavior in getting needs met.

Show Example


Reward desired behaviors

Immediately and frequently.

Show Example


Specific Behavior Management Strategies

Distraction

Distraction is redirecting the person’s attention to a more pleasant activity. (The key to using distraction successfully is knowing the patient. What gets or holds the person’s attention?)

Ignoring and Reinforcement

When the problem behavior is not dangerous or overly disruptive, ignore it.

Also, while ignoring mildly disruptive behavior, reinforce more appropriate behavior.

Embedding

Some tasks may be very unpleasant. Bathing, dressing, and toileting are several of the most common unpleasant activities that seem to trigger problem behavior in persons with dementia.

The solution to this problem is to make the environment more pleasant by placing preferred objects in the unpleasant environment.

Show Full Module Text