Purpose The increase in agitated or aggressive behaviour amongst nursing home residents with dementia is a challenging problem. Such behaviour causes stress for both resident and caregiver. Many non‐pharmacological interventions have been studied, but these interventions disregard the resident's unfulfilled needs and are executed by a single, designated caregiver. This study tests a non‐pharmacological intervention, applied by the entire team and based on the resident's underlying needs. Design A pretest and post‐test interventional study design was used, in which 65 residents with dementia who expressed agitated or aggressive behaviour. Data were collected from December 2016 until March 2017. Methods The ABC method and the Senses Framework were used to assign residents to either therapeutic touch, group music sessions or a meaningful individual activity. All staff members applied the interventions. Data were collected by use of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory‐Nursing Home version (NPI‐NH) and the Cohen‐Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI). Results The frequency of aggression, loss of decorum, depression and the severity of aggression decreased for all three interventions. However, the overall severity of fear also increased. The overall prevalence of agitated of residents decreased for the therapeutic touch, group music sessions and individual activities. Conclusions This study shows the possibilities of designing individualised interventions on the Senses Framework and the ABC method for addressing agitated and aggressive behaviour amongst nursing home residents with dementia. The framework presented in this study should be further explored. Implications for practice A team‐based approach is effective to reduce agitated or aggressive behaviour amongst nursing home residents.

Background: Non-pharmaceutical interventions based on unfulfilled needs amongst residents with dementia reduce symptoms of agitation, aggression and depression. However, to implement these interventions in daily practice in residential care facilities, caregivers need to (a) analyse resident's behaviour, (b) recognize unfulfilled needs and (c) apply an individualized non-pharmaceutical intervention.