The Lalemand Behaviour Scale is a secondary prevention strategy used to recognise and diffuse episodes of challenging behaviour. The Scale is a dynamic tool that provides healthcare employees with a quick method to assess five different levels of behaviour, recognise the second level message associated to that behaviour, and identify appropriate management strategies.
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History
Developed in 1977, by American Kurk Lalemand, the scale is a practice-based tool used by healthcare employees in America, Canada and the United Kingdom (UK). The Lalemand Behaviour Scale is a core component of the Non-Abusive Psychological and Physical Intervention (NAPPI) training programme. NAPPI training is accredited with the British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD), under the Physical Intervention Accreditation Scheme (PIAS).
The Scale is extremely versatile, delivered as part of a full programme, or as a stand-alone tool to employees in a variety of settings, e.g. residential care, domiciliary agencies and schools. Service users can also benefit by using the tool to communicate a preferred strategy to manage their episodes of challenging behaviour and (if required) consent to Restrictive Physical Intervention (RPI).
In 2009–2010, over 10,000 healthcare and school employees were taught this tool within the UK.
Description
The Lalemand Behaviour Scale is a dynamic tool that is not intended to label or diagnose, nor is it intended to be a precise, scientific instrument. It provides a relatively objective method to assess an individual's behaviour when it becomes challenging. This enables employees to respond in an appropriate manner that will make everyone safer.
The scale is a secondary prevention strategy used to gauge the effectiveness of an employee's management of an individual's challenging behaviour. Effective management will stop the challenging behaviour escalating and result in de-escalation. At times employees have to respond to self-injurious behaviour (SIB), which requires a response that is neither too intrusive, e.g. restraining an individual who is being uncooperative, nor too indecisive, e.g. failing to set limits for a person who is being destructive. Employees need a method to match their response to the level of behaviour that they observe.
Language
One of the problems that employees face when working with people who are challenging, is how to describe behaviour. Euphemisms such as, "kicking off" or "losing it" are frequently used. Such imprecise language can cause problems as employees do not communicate clearly to each other, supervisors or other professionals. The result is an overall lack of consistency in documentation and reporting of incidents. The Lalemand Behaviour Scale provides employees with a more objective language.