A non aversive approach to reducing hospital absconding in a head injured adolescent boy

Abstract

Patients who abscond from hospital exclude themselves from therapy and 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 person with a head injury who absconds why such people do so or how the problem might best be approached This paper presents a non aversive approach to hospital absconding in a head injured adolescent male discusses how his case relates to the psychiatric literature and looks at the feasibility of adopting such interventions in general hospital wards