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Reality Orientation and Staff Attention: a Controlled Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

R. T. Woods
R. T. Woods*
Affiliation:
Brighton Clinic, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 6BE
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Summary

A trial was carried out of Reality Orientation (R.O.) in a residential home for the elderly mentally infirm with a ‘social therapy’ control group, receiving the same amount of staff attention as the R.O. group, in addition to an untreated control group. R.O. residents improved more on tests of information and orientation and various aspects of memory than controls. These results support the hypothesis that the nature of staff attention is crucial and that it should encourage and reward appropriate behaviour. No differential effects of treatment were found on rating scale assessments of the residents' functioning in the home.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 134 , Issue 5 , May 1979 , pp. 502 - 507
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1979 

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