Chaney

• Operant conditioning- form of associative learning- connections form between stimuli and responses due to learning
• Skinner- used operant conditioning to explain how specks of human behaviour are acquired
• operant conditioning- learning through consequences of behaviour, reinforcement and punishment
• Thorndike- behaviour that leads to more desirable behaviour more likely to be repeated+ vice versa - law of effect
• Behaviour therapy+ behaviour modification(based on classical and operant conditioning) have been used by clinical psychologists and health practitioners to improve adherence to prescribed medical regimes
• compliance for medication to peads is 30% - 70%- compliance rates for technique ranges from 39%-67%- adherence doesn't change with severity
• Reasons for poor adherence varied- Watt proposed positive interplay with aerosol output would improve medication adherence
• AIM- show positive reinforcement would lead o improved adherence (interactive toys whilst not compromising drug delivery)
• Field experiment- in ppts houses- repeated measures design
• IV- whether child uses a standard volume spacer device (breath-a-tech) or whether the child uses a fun-haler

  DV- amount of adherence to prescribed regime
• 32 children prescribed drugs given, 22m, 10f, children's parents provided informed consent + participated by completing questionnaire + taking part in a phone interview- helped with use of fun-haler
• no difference in output of medicine between regular spacer+ fun-haler
• ppts approached at home and given a questionnaire about use of a normal spacer. Ppts then given fun-haler for two weeks and reports given over the phone on usage from previous day. matched questionnaires completed by parents after usage of both spacers
• ppts visited again and parents interviewed and completed matched questionnaire
• data collected from self report related to how easy each device was to use, compliance of parents+ children and their treatment attitudes
• parents called at random to see whether child had been medicated the day before
• fun-haler- distracts children- toys were optimised for deep breathing- recognises potential for boredom with interchangeable part
• Use of the fun-haler associated with improved parental and child compliance
• 38% more parents found to have medicated their children the previous day when using fun-haler
• 60% more children took recommended cycles per aerosol delivery
• more parents reported being 'always successful in medicating their child using fun-haler
• Concluded- improved adherence with good delivery characteristics suggests fun-haler is useful
• Concluded- using fun-haler could improve clinical outcome
• Concluded- functional incentive devices may improve children's health
• Concluded- more research needed for long term efficacy of treatment