The best way to handle a hard moment is to prevent it. Once you start watching antecedents, patterns appear. Many behaviors are set off by the same handful of triggers: too much noise or activity, being rushed, being approached too fast or from behind, a confusing or cluttered space, hunger or fatigue, a change in routine, or the harder hours of late afternoon and evening.
Before you assume a behavior is emotional, investigate the body first. A sudden change in behavior is very often physical: pain, a urinary tract infection, constipation, a new medication, poor sleep, dehydration, or hunger. Check glasses and hearing aids too. Ruling out the body is the single most useful habit in dementia caregiving, because a person in pain who cannot tell you so will often show you through behavior.
Once you know the common triggers for your person, you can adjust early, before the moment escalates. Lower the noise. Slow your approach. Simplify the space. Offer a snack. Move a demanding task to a calmer hour. You are not waiting for the storm and then reacting. You are changing the conditions so the storm is less likely to form.
Prevention is not avoidance. It is the most skilled, most compassionate move you can make.