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

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.