Show Notes
This episode explores positive behaviour support (PBS) principles in dementia contexts with Dr Alinka Fisher, Senior Lecturer in Disability and Community Inclusion at Flinders University. Drawing on her research across disability, acquired brain injury and dementia, Alinka discusses why behaviour should be understood as communication rather than a symptom of diagnosis, and how PBS frameworks apply flexibly to support people living with dementia and their families. The conversation unpacks the critical distinction between managing behaviours and understanding the complex interactions, neurological changes, personal history and environmental factors that influence how people communicate their needs. Alinka shares insights from education programmes delivered to families and residential aged care staff, highlighting what foundations of good support actually look like in practice.
Understanding behaviour as communication opens up fundamentally different possibilities for supporting people with dementia and their families. Whether you're a behaviour support practitioner, aged care worker or allied health professional, this episode offers practical perspective on how PBS principles translate into real-world practice, the importance of collaborative, family-centred approaches, and how to build workforce capability when time and resources feel stretched. Alinka's work demonstrates that person-centred, evidence-informed practice isn't reserved for ideal circumstances but can be flexibly applied in every situation.
Resources: Fisher et al. (2022). Positive behaviour support for people with dementia. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.5844 Fisher et al. (2023). The acceptability and usefulness of positive behaviour support education sessions for frontotemporal dementia families. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1177/08919887221090214 Fisher et al. (2024). "It's opened my eyes to a whole new world": PBS training for staff and families in aged care. American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias. https://doi.org/10.1177/15333175241241168 Fisher et al. (2024). PBS-P Framework for flexible, rights-based practice. Disability and Rehabilitation.https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2024.2402079
Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD Thursday 26 November 2026.
Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices. Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework. Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/
Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?
The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.
Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/
Questions, comments, feedback? Email us at [email protected]
More from Behaviour Bits
Max MacKenzie, founder of Resilience Enterprises, discusses the unwritten rules, conflicts, survival strategies, and personal growth necessary to build resilience and help shape a long career in behaviour support.
Zac Demopoulos, a specialist behaviour support practitioner and Chief Operating Officer at Step 2 Allied Health, joins the podcast to discuss what new positive behaviour support practitioners need to know when starting out in the NDIS.
Clinical psychologist and specialist behaviour support practitioner Dr Zoe Perry unpacks the often murky distinction between psychology and positive behaviour support, and what genuine interdisciplinary collaboration looks like in practice. The conversation covers the concept of “the missing middle”- people who are too complex for mainstream services, yet not eligible for public mental health or disability supports, and how this gap influences and shapes service delivery. The discussion moves into practical territory, examining where scope of practice and scope of role diverge, whether positive behaviour support should be considered therapy, and how formulation skills can sharpen rather than blur professional boundaries. Real world examples illustrate how psychologists and behaviour support practitioners can work in a genuinely interdisciplinary way, including practical tools like shared formulation and simple memoranda of understanding, and strategies for advocating to the NDIS when clients need both disciplines working together rather than one substituting for the other. Anyone working alongside psychologists and behaviour support practitioners in disability and mental health settings will recognise the tension between staying within scope and responding to genuine unmet need. This conversation offers concrete language and tools for navigating that tension while keeping the person at the centre of a coordinated, evidence-informed interdisciplinary support team.
This episode explores cultural reflexivity in behaviour support practice with Anika Tabassum, a specialist behaviour support practitioner with over a decade of experience supporting culturally and linguistically diverse children and families. Anika examines what cultural reflexivity is- including the critical distinction between cultural awareness and cultural reflexivity, and explains why many well-intentioned practitioners and teams recognise culture as an important factor in behaviour support, but may find challenges in integrating true culturally reflexive practice.
Co-design in behaviour support means working alongside people to develop plans and supports rather than creating them solely from the professional’s perspective and presenting them as finished products. Tarnya Bruinier discusses how involving people in understanding their own triggers, strengths, and needs leads to greater buy-in, ownership, and sustainable outcomes. Tarnya is a Specialist Behaviour Support Practitioner, AuDHD woman, mother of neurodivergent children and the Director of Wildfire Wellbeing. She shares practical examples, from a woman who created her own de-escalation plan to a young person who identified a safe space to regulate at school, demonstrating how curiosity and person-centred collaboration fundamentally reshape behaviour support practice. The conversation also explores how traditional assessments can incorporate co-design, how tools like Vista trigger cards build self-awareness, and the importance of shifting mindsets from managing behaviour to addressing unmet needs. Co-design is particularly valuable when supporting people with behaviours of concern. It honours autonomy, builds agency, and recognises that people are the experts in their own lives. By slowing down, asking questions, and genuinely listening, practitioners create plans that reflect what actually matters to the person, often leading to better outcomes.