Aims: The current research explores the impact psychological training has on attributions held by health and social care staff regarding the causes of distressed behaviour exhibited by individuals with dementia. Method: Participants attended a two-day formal training workshop aimed at developing knowledge and skills regarding assessment, formulation, and interventions for distressed behaviours within a psychological model (James, 2011). Attributions made by participants were measured before and after training using the Challenging Behaviour Attribution Scale – Dementia (CHABA-D), adapted from the CHABA (Hastings, 1997) and findings examined in the context of attributional shift post-training. Additionally the internal reliability of the CHABA-D was measured using Cronbach’s alpha. Results: The scale was found to have good internal reliability and analysis indicated that participants made more psychological attributions regarding the cause of distressed behaviour both before training and on course completion, although there was no increase in the number of psychological attributions made following training. Additionally, participants demonstrated increased awareness of learned behaviour, physical environment, and activity and stimulation as causal factors in the development of distressed behaviour in individuals with dementia following training. Future directions: Further research is on-going to evaluate the effects of training on clinical practice, focusing on evaluating the impact on prescribing of anti-psychotic medication for distressed behaviour exhibited by individuals with dementia.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:586809 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | McVicar, Sally |
| Publisher | University of Glasgow |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4691/ |
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