chaney Flashcards
what was the aim of chaney’s experiment
to look at the impact of positive reinforcement on compliance to taking asthma medication
describe the methodology used
a field experiment piloting a technique to improve adherence with asthmatic children
who were the participants
32 children (22m/10f) aged 1.5-6 from perth australia
randomly selected from 7 g.p surgeries
describe the procedure
the study was done across a two week period at the participants homes
parents gave informed consent and completed a structured closed question questionnaire and interview about their child’s current asthma medication and their compliance levels
participants were then asked to use a funhaler instead of their normal pDMI and spacer inhaler to administer their medication without further instructions on use except that parental guidance was needed
the funhaler was just a standard pDMI inhaler and spacer but with toys attached such as a spinning disc and a whistle. these were designed to distract children from the drug delivery and to encourage and reward deep breathing patterns needed for the medication to be effective. this is a form of operant conditioning as it was self reinforcement as the device rewarded the user with no extra encouragement from a parent or doctor
parents then completed a matched item questionnaire on the funhaler to allow direct comparison to the standard device.
researchers also conducted one random check via the telephone to check on participant usage of the funhaler on the previous day
describe the results
the funhaler was associated with improved parental and child compliance
59% of parents were found to have medicated their children on the previous day when using their standard device compared to 81% when using the funhaler
50% of children took the four or more cycles per aerosol delivery when they used the standard device compared to 80% with the funhaler
screaming when the device was brought to the child’s face, unwillingness to breath through the device and unwillingness to breathe for a long time were all significantly reduced with the funhaler, whereas only 10% enjoyed using the standard device
parents also reported improved satisfaction with the funhaler
what did chaney conclude
the funhaler and its uses of positive reinforcement improved levels of medical compliance in young asthmatics
- the use of their funhaler could provide edible improve clinical outcomes such as lowering rates of admissions to hospital for asthma attacks
- devices that use self reinforcement strategies can improve the overall health of children
