SOCIAL-WORKERS ACCEPTABILITY RATINGS OF BEHAVIORAL TREATMENTS AND PHARMACOTHERAPY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF GERIATRIC BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

The purpose of the present study was to obtain treatment acceptability ratings from social workers whose client contacts include a high perc entage of persons age 60 or older. Social workers were presented with written scenarios depicting a 75-year-old woman with a behavior proble m. The client in the case varied by cognitive capacity (nondemented or experiencing dementia), living situation (living with a family caregi ver or in a nursing home), and presenting problem (aggression, verbal abuse or noncompliance). Using Kazdin's (1980) Treatment Evaluation In ventory, participants rated three treatments: positive reinforcement, time out from positive reinforcement, and haloperidol. Although rating s for time out varied by presenting problem, the highest acceptability for each type of behavior problem was assigned to the positive reinfo rcement condition, followed by time out, with the lowest ratings assoc iated with haloperidol.