Why Dementia Care Needs a Rethink – And How Less Distress is the Behavioural Support Tool Making a Difference

Distressed behaviour is one of the biggest challenges in dementia care. It's upsetting for the person living with dementia, exhausting for caregivers, and costly for providers. But too often, we're treating the symptoms without understanding the cause.

With Less Distress by emwillcare, we believe it’s time for a shift — away from guesswork, towards insight-driven care that works in the real world.

The Problem: We're Fighting Fires Without Knowing Why They Start

In care homes and home care settings across the UK, teams are doing their best under immense pressure. But when someone living with dementia lashes out, refuses care, or withdraws completely, the response is often reactive.

We log the incident. We try distraction. We adjust medication.
But what we don’t always do — because we don’t have the tools or the time — is ask: Why is this happening? What’s the function of this behaviour?

That’s where the real answers lie.

Distressed behaviour is rarely random. It’s a form of communication — a way for someone to say “I’m in pain,” “I’m scared,” or “This doesn’t make sense to me.” If we don’t understand the why, we can’t truly help.

The Solution: Behavioural Science, Made Practical

Less Distress is a new behavioural support tool for dementia care that brings the science of behaviour analysis into the hands of caregivers. Traditionally, this kind of expertise has only been available through specialist professionals. We're changing that with this non-pharmacological approach to dementia care.

Developed by one of only 80 Board Certified Behaviour Analysts in the world specialising in dementia, and supported by the Alzheimer’s Society, our tool helps care staff:
- Record behaviour quickly and easily
- Spot patterns over time
- Receive tailored, research-backed suggestions to reduce distress and improve quality of life

No jargon. No complexity. Just insight you can use today.

What Makes Less Distress Different?

Most training focuses on what to do after a behaviour happens. We focus on what leads up to it — and what can be changed to reduce it happening again.
We don’t offer generic advice. Our suggestions are based on your data — what you’re seeing, when, and in what context.

That’s how we move from ‘managing’ behaviour to understanding and preventing it.

Why This Matters Now

The care sector is under pressure like never before. Staff shortages, burnout, and rising care costs mean we can’t afford to rely on trial and error.
Less Distress offers a smarter, faster, more compassionate way to respond — and it’s built for real-world care settings.

This is early access. Beta testing. But it’s also the beginning of something much bigger.

If you want to be part of the next step in dementia care — grounded in science, driven by compassion — we’d love to have you on board.

Sign up to beta test Less Distress and help us build a better future for dementia care.

Request to Join the Pilot Programme