Understanding the behaviour 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 dementia in a residential unit The participants were thirty eight residents in a Special Dementia Unit (SDU) organised as a hostel, Scores were recorded at staff meetings for the following scales: Crichton Royal Behavioural Rating Scale (CRBRS), Confusion Rating (CR), Barthel Index (BI) Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) mid the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). It,vas found that the CRBRS and the CR provide 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 Information from these scores was combined to construct residents' profiles, We concluded that the CRBRS, the CR and the CMAI can provide information about residents, both as individuals and as a group, which can assist ill the understanding of behaviour and ill the evaluation of the function of an SDU.