THE EFFECT OF STAFF LEADERSHIP ROLES ON PATIENTS PARTICIPATION IN ACTIVITY THERAPY

A study designed to test the effects of exp'al modifications in staff leadership roles on the behavior & att's of patients (P's) in a psychiatric ward. Some investigators have found that behavior of mental P's & their clinical improvement is affected by the climate of the hospital ward, while others found little relationship between P behavior & ward practices. The nursing staff of the hospital questioned how much leadership they should assume in a P activity program. This presenting situation afforded an opportunity to test the theoretic diff's. The interaction & att's of P's under 4 successive periods of diff leadership patterns, each several weeks long, were studied: (1) In the control period P's & staff shared responsibility in organizing & planning the activity program, (2) P's were given the responsibility, (3) was a 2nd control period, & (4) the staff took leadership. P interaction was scored on a 5 point scale, & their att's were scored on a 2nd 5 point scale. Spatial distances between P's were measured. The mean/average scores of data from the 3 observations were analyzed & reveal that when the staff initiated activity, P's interacted more, were more satisfied, & were closer to one another in space. Impressionistic data was collected simultaneously. Both objective & subjective data support the hypothesis that P's are sensitive to practices & all's of the staff. NR.