13. Checklists & practical aids

Practical aids

Checklists for everyday practice

✔ Checklist: Understanding & preventing

  • Behaviour understood as an expression of distress/need (not condemned)?
  • Cause looked for (‘detective work’) – pain in particular considered?
  • Needs met, triggers avoided, milieu adapted?
  • Own way of acting reflected on as a possible trigger?
  • Early warning signs recognised and responded to early?

✔ Checklist: De-escalating

  • Stayed calm (did not take it personally)?
  • Verbal: calm voice, listened, acknowledged feelings, did not argue?
  • Nonverbal: calm, open, not threatening, gave space?
  • Verbal and nonverbal congruent (inner calm)?
  • No contradiction, no threat, no coercion?

✔ Checklist: Safety & aftercare

  • Self-protection heeded (distance, escape route, help, objects)?
  • In the case of physical threat: safety prioritised (stepped away, got help)?
  • Person cared for afterwards, relationship restored?
  • Own strain taken seriously, exchange/support?
  • Documented, analysed, learned (without blame)?

✔ Checklist: Special situations

  • In dementia: understand the need, validate, reduce stimuli?
  • In sudden confusion: thought of delirium, medically clarified?
  • In mental crisis/suicidality: specialist help involved?
  • In violence/danger: help/reinforcement called?
  • Own limits recognised, help called in good time?

✔ Reminder card

  • Behaviour is communication – look for the cause (pain!).
  • Stay calm – do not take aggression personally.
  • Acknowledge feelings – do not argue/refute.
  • Give space, do not threaten; de-escalate early.
  • Protect your own safety – step away and get help; you do not have to endure violence.
  • Sudden confusion? Think of delirium, have it clarified!

Conclusion

You have learned to understand and de-escalate challenging behaviour: to interpret it as an expression of needs/distress, to recognise the causes (above all pain!) and triggers, to understand the dynamics of escalation, to de-escalate verbally and nonverbally, to prevent, to protect your own safety, to follow up situations and to deal with special situations (dementia, delirium). The central message: understand and de-escalate challenging behaviour – calmly, with understanding, safely and with dignity (instead of coercion/violence). If you wish, now use the voluntary self-reflection.