The effect of challenging behaviour, and staff support, on the psychological wellbeing of staff working with older adults

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between levels of challenging behaviour in older adults living in residential settings, the degree of staff support and the psychological wellbeing of staff. Fifty-one staff working in mental health and 45 staff working in nursing home settings rated residents on the frequency of 25 challenging behaviours, and completed measures of staff support and psychological wellbeing. Staff in the mental health settings had a higher level of perceived staff support than those working in the nursing home settings. Psychological wellbeing in staff was found to be positively correlated to the degree of staff support perceived by staff, and not related to levels of resident challenging behaviour. The implications of these findings, including the need to adopt a more psychological framework to care provision in nursing home settings, are discussed.