Assessing and managing agitation as a symptom of dementia
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Assessing and managing agitation as a symptom of dementia

Pat Brown Admiral nurse, Dementia UK, London, England and PhD student, University College London, London, England
Karen Harrison Dening Head of research and publications, Dementia UK, London, England and honorary professor of dementia nursing, De Montfort University, Leicester, England

Why you should read this article:
  • To enhance your awareness of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia

  • To recognise some of the assessment tools that may be used to identify agitation as a symptom of dementia

  • To be aware of evidence-based interventions for the management of agitation as a symptom of dementia

Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) affect more than one third of people with dementia at some point during the course of their condition. Agitation is the third most common BPSD but is the least well understood in terms of identification and management. Furthermore, agitation as a symptom of dementia is often confused with agitation as a way of expressing an emotion or unmet need. Psychosocial interventions are recommended to support the person with dementia and their family carers to manage agitation as a symptom of dementia, as well as other BPSD, in a person-centred manner. Some psychosocial interventions for managing agitation as a symptom of dementia have shown benefits, but further investigation of the usefulness of a range of interventions is needed. This article discusses the assessment and management of agitation as a symptom of dementia and illustrates their application through a case study.

Nursing Older People. doi: 10.7748/nop.2023.e1433

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

@AdmiralNursePat

Correspondence

pat.brown@dementiauk.org

Conflict of interest

None declared

Brown P, Harrison Dening K (2023) Assessing and managing agitation as a symptom of dementia. Nursing Older People. doi: 10.7748/nop.2023.e1433

Published online: 08 March 2023

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