Have you ever waited to watch your favorite show so you could enjoy it while walking on the treadmill? There’s a term for that—temptation bundling. It means pairing a pleasurable indulgence (favorite TV show) with a behavior that provides delayed rewards (like exercise), thereby by making behaviors with delayed benefits more instantly-gratifying and increasing our likelihood of engaging in those beneficial behaviors.
As you consider ways to get your patients motivated to move more and engage in function focused care, think about temptation bundling! Instead of simply asking them to go for walk to help maintain their strength (which it does), you can walk to the nurse’s station to get a piece of candy or see a favorite team member. You could also play a patient’s favorite song while she’s washing her face and brushing teeth or walking to the bathroom. This helps make activities more fun and rewarding for both patients and staff!
Can you think of other examples where you can provide immediate rewards to patients when they go for a walk, do sit-to-stand exercises, transfer to a chair, or participate in dressing and washing up, beyond the significant health benefits we already know?
To read on article about a study done on temptation building visit, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2020.09.003
Function Focused Care 