It can often be helpful for caregivers to try to understand why a person with dementia is behaving in a particular way. There are many reasons why a difficult behavior may be occurring. Sometimes the behaviour may be related to changes taking place in the brain. In other instances, there may be other factors triggering the behavior. If caregivers can determine what may be causing or triggering the behaviour, it may then be possible to figure out ways to overcome some of the difficulties.

As the disease progresses, different parts of the brain cease to function normally and a number of common problems arise as a direct result of the brain damage. Other factors to consider include

• possible health problems - side effects of medications, hearing or vision problems, illness, dehydration, constipation, depression, fatigue
• possible environmental factors - unfamiliar environment, excessive clutter or stimulation, lack of orientation cues, size or distance problems
• communication problems - inability to understand what is expected, inability to make others understand
• complexity of the task - task involves too many combined steps, task is unfamiliar, task not modified for increased impairment