UP NHM CHO 7 Sept 2022(shift-1st)
Mental Health Nursing
Medium

A form of behaviour therapy that may be used to enhance desired behaviour in mentally challenged clients would be:

Appeared in: UP NHM CHO 7 Sept 2022(shift-1st)

Explanation

  • The question asks for a therapy to 'enhance desired behaviour', which points to techniques based on reinforcement.
  • Enhancing social interaction is a therapeutic goal achieved through Social Skills Training, a well-established behavior therapy technique.
  • Social Skills Training uses methods like modeling, role-playing, and positive reinforcement to teach and strengthen appropriate social behaviors.
  • This approach focuses on building positive skills rather than punishing negative actions, making it ideal for promoting desired conduct.

Why Other Options Were Wrong

  • Option A: Strict discipline is a punitive, non-therapeutic approach that can be harmful and is not a recognized technique in modern behavior therapy.
  • Option B: Dispelling false beliefs is the primary goal of Cognitive Therapy, which focuses on changing thought patterns, not a behavior therapy that directly reinforces actions.
  • Option D: Punishment, whether described as 'benign' or not, is a technique used in operant conditioning to decrease or eliminate an undesirable behavior, not to enhance a desired one.

Related Visual

Visual explanation — Related Visual
Clinical Relevance
  • Nursing practice connection: Knowing Application of behavior therapy principles for enhancing desired behaviors helps nurses interpret findings accurately and avoid errors in routine assessment, medication administration, and patient teaching.
  • Nurses play a key role in implementing behavioral plans on inpatient units, using techniques like token economies and providing positive reinforcement for desired behaviors like attending group therapy or maintaining personal hygiene.
  • Understanding the difference between reinforcement and punishment is critical for patient safety and effective care. Using punitive measures can damage the therapeutic relationship and worsen a client's condition.
  • What if the goal was to stop a client from repeatedly shouting out during group sessions? The nurse would use a technique to decrease behavior, such as planned ignoring (extinction) or response cost (if a token economy is in place), while also reinforcing the desired behavior of speaking at appropriate times.
How to Approach the Question
  • First, identify the key phrase in the question stem: 'enhance desired behaviour'. This is the central goal.
  • Recall the basic principles of behavior therapy, especially operant conditioning. 'Enhancing' or 'increasing' a behavior is achieved through reinforcement.
  • Evaluate each option against this principle.
  • Eliminate 'punishment' as its purpose is to decrease behavior.
  • Differentiate between behavior therapy and cognitive therapy. 'Dispelling false beliefs' belongs to cognitive therapy.
  • Eliminate 'strict discipline' as it is not a formal, therapeutic technique.
Concept Tested & Keywords
  • Concept Tested: Application of behavior therapy principles for enhancing desired behaviors.
  • Stem keywords: behaviour therapy, enhance desired behaviour, mentally challenged clients
  • Lead-in keywords: a form of
  • Negative lead-in flag: false

Question ID

QGICuKTUUmge5cLor8EhtJ

Reference Book

E6 Guide to Mental Health & PSYCHIATRIC NURSING R Sreevani— Part 1 (pp 26-289 of 579) p. 151-153

E6 Kaplan Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry-2022 (pp 1-3768 of 3768) p. 2431-2433

Practise the full UP NHM CHO 7 Sept 2022(shift-1st)

Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.

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