Dan

The importance of documentation and record-keeping is realised when it comes to reviewing approaches and support plans for an individual. Using the information gathered from records, debriefings and activities, the support team and the individual concerned can come up with strategies to help promote positive behaviour and prevent challenging behaviour, which will contribute towards their well-being.

For example, I worked with a client who would get very aggressive in the mornings when support staff prompted him to have a bath. Using the information from the incidents reports, my team and I ascertained that one of the reasons for his behaviour was that he was still quite groggy and tired in the mornings, so we asked him if he would prefer to have a bath in the early evening instead. The client agreed to this and the incidents of challenging behaviour at bath time decreased dramatically.

Following an incident, it is the policy of my company to fill in an ABC chart. This should be filled in by support staff that were present during the incident, however it is always useful to speak to the individual themselves as they are best placed to know the reasons for their behaviour. Getting cooperation from the individual also helps them to reflect on the incident.

ABC charts have three columns; A for antecedent (what happened before the incident), B for behaviour (what happened during the incident) and C for consequences (the consequences of the behaviour).

Following an incident of challenging behaviour, individuals should be checked for injuries, ideally by somebody that was not involved in the incident. If physical interventions were used, it is important to carefully check for injury on the areas where physical contact took place. First aid should be applied where necessary, however if first aid is not sufficient the emergency services should be called. It is also important to record any injuries on the incident report.

As mentioned above, my company’s policy is to have a post-incident review within 72 hours of an incident happening, which gives everybody involved a chance to air their views about how they were and are feeling in a non-judgemental way. It may also be necessary to speak privately to individuals about an incident. I will also usually pass on my incident report to everybody involved to ensure they agree with it and I haven’t made any mistakes and/or omissions.

Having witnessed and been involved in quite a few incidents of challenging behaviour, I know that they can bring about feelings of anger, anxiety, upset, depression and guilt. They can also bring about positive feelings such as pride in how you handled a situation and improved self-confidence and self-esteem when you have done a good job.