UNDERSTANDING THE BEHAVIOR OF PEOPLE IN SPECIAL DEMENTIA UNITS - THE CONTRIBUTION OF RATING-SCALES

The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution that rating scales can make to the understanding of the behaviour of people with d ementia in a residential unit The participants were thirty eight resid ents in a Special Dementia Unit (SDU) organised as a hostel, Scores we re recorded at staff meetings for the following scales: Crichton Royal Behavioural Rating Scale (CRBRS), Confusion Rating (CR), Barthel Inde x (BI) Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) mid the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). It,vas found that the CRBRS and the CR provi de a useful reference to mental and physical disabilities, Scores from the CMAI recorded the type, the frequency and the number of agitated behaviours displayed by individual residents. The majority of agitated behaviours belonged to the physically Iron-aggressive category Inform ation from these scores was combined to construct residents' profiles, We concluded that the CRBRS, the CR and the CMAI can provide informat ion about residents, both as individuals and as a group, which can ass ist ill the understanding of behaviour and ill the evaluation of the f unction of an SDU.