Behaviour modification in nursing practice and research: a case study

Using a behaviour modification programme, an attempt was made to teach a 39-year-old dependent patient with a medical diagnosis of schizophrenia to reacquire and maintain self-care behaviours. Dependence in this project was limited to morning care behaviours, i.e. mouth-washing, face-washing, shaving and bathing. Praise and a token economy programme were used to reduce the number of prompts (help and reminders) the patient needed to accomplish the targeted behaviours. Although the treatment programme ran for only 4 weeks because the patient was prematurely transferred to another ward, an evaluation of the programme shows that nursing staff in psychiatric hospitals can facilitate healthy behaviours in schizophrenic patients through behaviour management skills.