The development of the Grip on Challenging Behaviour dementia care programme.
BACKGROUND
Current guidelines and theories on the origin of challenging behaviour in dementia indicate that a structured multidisciplinary approach to its management is necessary. In the Grip on Challenging Behaviour study, a care programme was developed to improve the management of challenging behaviour.


METHODS
In developing the care programme, the overlapping parts of dementia care guidelines were supplemented with discipline-specific parts. Three meetings with experts were arranged to further develop the structure of the care programme and to ensure a good fit with practice.


RESULTS
The care programme consists of four steps: detection, analysis, treatment, and evaluation. For each step, forms were developed to guide and structure the process and assign responsibilities for each discipline. As well as a description of the development and the content of the care programme, this paper presents two case studies in which the programme was used.


CONCLUSIONS
The Grip on Challenging Behaviour care programme provides a way for dementia special care units to manage challenging behaviour in a structured way and with a multidisciplinary approach making use of their own resources.
Psychologist and PhD Student, Department of General Practice and Elderly Care Medicine/EMGO and Institute for Health and Care Research, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Sandra A
SA
Zwijsen
Psychologist and Senior Researcher, Department of Primary and Community Care, Centre for Family Medicine, Geriatric Care and Public Health, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Debby L
DL
Gerritsen
Senior Researcher and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Zonnehuisgroep IJssel-Vecht, Zwolle, The Netherlands.
Jan A
JA
Eefsting
Elderly Care Physician and Professor of Elderly Care Medicine and Geriatric Ethics, Department of General Practice and Elderly Care Medicine/EMGO and Institute for Health and Care Research, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Cees M P M
CM
Hertogh
Psychologist and Professor of Clinical Geropsychology, Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychological and Educational Sciences, EMGO + Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Netherlands Institut.
Anne Margriet
AM
Pot
Elderly Care Physician, Senior Researcher, and Head of the Training Center For Elderly Care Physicians, Department of General Practice and Elderly Care Medicine/EMGO and Institute for Health and Care Research, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Martin
M
Smalbrugge
D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation