establish their neurological functioning. A comparison was made with results of an earlier study of stroke patients' activities conducted at the same hospital. In this earlier study, patients did not engage in self-directed therapy.
Patients spent an average 43 minutes per day with physical therapists (9 percent of the working day) and this was supplemented by self-exercise (2 percent of the working day - approximately 10 minutes). In other words, the amount of self-directed therapy was minimal.
Despite the minimal use of self-directed therapy, findings of the study showed that the inclusion of self directed therapy was associated with a marked decrease in the time patients spent at their bedsides, as well as a decrease in time spent passively gazing or watching others. It was concluded that, overall, there was some positive change in patients' behavior. Further, Newall, Wood, Hewer and Tinson (1997) recommended that patients be encouraged to undertaken more self-directed therapy practice and recreation.
For many physical illnesses, self directed therapy consists of having subjects read books and take courses teaching them about their illnesses; often this reading is supplemented with patient participation in relaxation and exercise activities. In one study of the efficacy of these self help strategies for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Braden (1991) examined patterns of change over time in subjects responses to their illnesses. Subjects in the study consisted of 201 SLE patients between nineteen and eighty-three years of age.
Braden (1991) reported that, as with many other physical conditions, having subjects read books and learn more about their illness and how to respond to it, produced very positive outcomes. Specifically, it was found that following this form of self-directed therapy, subjects demonstrated significant change in learned response over time. Improvement in responses was said to be due t...