title: Behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia and the challenges for family carers: systematic review.
abstract: Tailored psychosocial interventions can help families to manage behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia (BPSD), but carer responses to their relative's behaviours contribute to the success of support programmes.
  
  
  
  To understand why some family carers have difficulty in dealing with BPSD, in order to improve the quality of personalised care that is offered.
  
  
  
  A systematic review and meta-ethnographic synthesis was conducted of high-quality quantitative and qualitative studies between 1980 and 2012.
  
  
  
  We identified 25 high-quality studies and two main reasons for behaviours being reported as challenging by family carers: changes in communication and relationships, resulting in 'feeling bereft'; and perceptions of transgressions against social norms associated with 'misunderstandings about behaviour' in the relative with dementia. The underlying belief that their relative had lost, or would inevitably lose, their identity to dementia was a fundamental reason why family carers experienced behaviour as challenging.
  
  
  
  Family carers' perceptions of BPSD as challenging are associated with a sense of a declining relationship, transgressions against social norms and underlying beliefs that people with dementia inevitably lose their 'personhood'. Interventions for the management of challenging behaviour in family settings should acknowledge unmet psychological need in family carers.
authors.affiliation: Alexandra Feast, MPhil, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, and Research and Development Department, North East London National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, Ilford; Martin Orrell, PhD, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford, and Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham; Georgina Charlesworth, PhD, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford, and Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology, University College London; Nina Melunsky, MSc, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford; Fiona Poland, PhD, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia; Esme Moniz-Cook, PhD, Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of Hull, UK a.feast@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Feast
authors.affiliation: Alexandra Feast, MPhil, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, and Research and Development Department, North East London National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, Ilford; Martin Orrell, PhD, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford, and Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham; Georgina Charlesworth, PhD, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford, and Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology, University College London; Nina Melunsky, MSc, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford; Fiona Poland, PhD, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia; Esme Moniz-Cook, PhD, Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of Hull, UK.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orrell
authors.affiliation: Alexandra Feast, MPhil, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, and Research and Development Department, North East London National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, Ilford; Martin Orrell, PhD, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford, and Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham; Georgina Charlesworth, PhD, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford, and Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology, University College London; Nina Melunsky, MSc, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford; Fiona Poland, PhD, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia; Esme Moniz-Cook, PhD, Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of Hull, UK.
authors.forename: Georgina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Charlesworth
authors.affiliation: Alexandra Feast, MPhil, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, and Research and Development Department, North East London National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, Ilford; Martin Orrell, PhD, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford, and Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham; Georgina Charlesworth, PhD, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford, and Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology, University College London; Nina Melunsky, MSc, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford; Fiona Poland, PhD, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia; Esme Moniz-Cook, PhD, Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of Hull, UK.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Melunsky
authors.affiliation: Alexandra Feast, MPhil, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, and Research and Development Department, North East London National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, Ilford; Martin Orrell, PhD, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford, and Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham; Georgina Charlesworth, PhD, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford, and Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology, University College London; Nina Melunsky, MSc, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford; Fiona Poland, PhD, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia; Esme Moniz-Cook, PhD, Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of Hull, UK.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Poland
authors.affiliation: Alexandra Feast, MPhil, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, and Research and Development Department, North East London National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, Ilford; Martin Orrell, PhD, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford, and Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham; Georgina Charlesworth, PhD, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford, and Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology, University College London; Nina Melunsky, MSc, Research and Development Department, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Ilford; Fiona Poland, PhD, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia; Esme Moniz-Cook, PhD, Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of Hull, UK.
authors.forename: Esme
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moniz-Cook
mesh_terms: D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000451:nursing / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005195:Family Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D000066553:Problem Behavior / Q000523:psychology*