A NON-AVERSIVE APPROACH TO REDUCING HOSPITAL ABSCONDING IN A HEAD-INJURED ADOLESCENT BOY

Patients who abscond from hospital exclude themselves from therapy, an d attempts to stop the person can quickly become confrontational with the inherent risk of aggression. Although information is available on absconding in psychiatric settings little is known about the type of p erson with a head injury who absconds, why such people do so, or how t he problem might best be approached. This paper presents a non-aversiv e approach to hospital absconding in a head-injured adolescent male, d iscusses how his case relates to the psychiatric literature, and looks at the feasibility of adopting such interventions in general hospital wards.