Treatment of Chronic Patients by Therapy Aides: A Pilot Project

A three-month pilot project was devised to test the effectiveness of treatments designed by therapy aides for improving the daily living skills of long-term chronic psychiatric patients. The study was conducted on two male and two female wards; one male and one female ward were chosen for experimental treatment, the other two as controls. Patient behaviors were rated by a nurse or therapy aide and by one of the investigators both before and after the trial began. Ratings by nursing staff showed no over-all effect of treatment on male and female patients combined but significant improvement among the males. Investigators rated both male and female treatment groups as significantly improved. The results suggest that improvements in behavior can be achieved using procedures that are much simpler and less costly than formal behavior modification programs.