Establish preventive (environmental) strategies

Strategies that change the person’s environment or routine to better align with their needs or preferences can minimise the person’s confusion and frustration, and subsequently their need to communicate this through challenging behaviour. There needs to be more things happening that the person likes or prefers, than those they don’t like or find distressing. This is a basic human need, often overlooked in the lives of people with disability.

Increasing the predictability of routine and the control the person with developmental disability has over their daily life can be critical to changing challenging behaviour. Technology and assistive devices may be useful to improve communication and enable independence.

Carers or support people may benefit from education and assistance to ensure strategies are consistently employed. In support of the behaviour intervention process, the GP should regularly ask the person with developmental disability and their family members and service providers how they are going with the behaviour support plan. See also Monitoring and reviewing strategies.

Preventive strategies for common health problems in people with developmental disability are particularly important when the person presents with limited capacity to report their health status, symptoms or adverse reactions to medication. For advice on preventive health in people with developmental disability, see Preventive health care and health promotion.