IDEAL

IDEAL
The ''IDEAL''

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

LOLLIPOPs (OLD GENERAL STORE)

Lollipops
 
 
---This anecdote involving lollipops may clear up what I’ve been trying to say. There was a nurse one time who use to come to the General Store on a daily basis. She bought bags of lollipops. At the time we were able to sell 25 lollipops per bag at $0.25 for one cent per pop. A VERY GOOD DEAL INDEED.

---She was in charge of a very difficult unit at the hospital. We knew that. One day we asked her what she did with the pops? She found that dispersing them in a timely manner and using them as a reward for positive behavior, she was able to get the patients on her unit to focus attention and concentrate for increasingly long periods of time.

---She was using behavior modification and found it working very well. She had a happier and satisfied bunch due to using the lollipops wisely.

---The lollipops were doing much the same thing that I see the preferences are able to do. It is amazing what one penny lollipop was able to do. When you swap the lollipop (which has an almost universal appeal) for something that the patient actually wants and desires - one is able to easily get the patient to behave in a manner that may be more civil. Instead of being on the verge of tantrum and panic most of the time the patient is calmer and acts in a more reasonable way.


---On the unit I stay, a man brings one pre-wrapped sugar free chocolate candy for each patient once a week. The mood created by the chocolate for a period of time is something to behold. Everyone smiles and is happy for a short period. The affect is much the same as stated above. I feel the amount of behavior modification possible through the intelligent use of preferences has the ability to make big changes in behavior of the underserved population. Someone has to go into each person and finds what he responds to. In this way, I think that more folks will be happier and more satisfied and this reaps benefits for the hospital as a whole.

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