THE USE OF FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOURS IN THE HEALTHCARE

Abstract

The present study was a case study which investigated the effectiveness of functional analysis in changing human behavior in the absence of motivation. A patient who had bladder problem and had to drink at least 4,000 mL of fluids daily did not drink enough despite consistent drinking instructions she heard from the physician and nurses. The patient’s unappreciable intake of water, which put her life at risk, made the caregivers helpless and concluded that the patient wished to die. A consulting clinical psychologist was brought in to assist the staff. The nurses were trained to use functional analysis technique which explained how nurses should instruct the patient to drink fluids and the importance of immediate follow up (i.e. rewarding drinking behavior). The functional analysis technique significantly improved the patient’s drinking habits from 1404 mL to 4005mL per day.