5 Strategies for Meaningful
De-escalation

Author Nancy Hooper

Nancy has been working in behaviour support for over twenty-five years across a variety of settings, including community homes, forensic secure services and schools. She began her career as a learning disability nurse working with adults in an assessment and treatment service and it was here that she developed a passion for understanding behaviour.

She completed a master’s degree in Intellectual Disability and worked as a behaviour support specialist, providing intensive support to staff and families, working with children and adults across a wide range of services. This allowed her to develop innovative ways of thinking about behaviour, create person-centred strategies for people in distress, and support staff in finding positive ways of working with people who presented with behaviours that challenge.

While Nancy provided direct support and strategies as a behaviour specialist, she also started training staff across services, around ways to reduce risk and restraint. Her drive to improve care and cultures across organisations has led to her providing consultancy, training, and coaching to staff teams around the world. Nancy works globally, developing staff understanding of behaviours, and creating transformational change within organisations in the health, social care and education sectors.