Our focus of research is on the behavioral disorder ADHD. ADHD is a commonly diagnosed disorder in children that, for many years, has primarily been treated with stimulants. There have, however, been new approaches to treating this disorder. With this, our research question is ‘Are stimulant medications or is behavioral therapy more effective in treating ADHD?’
To research this disorder we reviewed 10 articles that examined the effectiveness of stimulants and several behavioral therapies for treating ADHD. Many of the articles were either level 1 or level 7 pieces of evidence and the articles data gathering techniques included systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials.
The major findings of our research was that the implementation of both behavioral therapies and medicinal treatments was the most effective way in treating ADHD. We found that the medicinal treatments were the most effective in treating ADHD symptoms, however, the behavioral therapy was important for developing appropriate social skills and not having the child rely solely on medication. Moving forward with this information, we can inform medical professionals about the importance of implementing behavioral therapies along with medication as treatment for patients with ADHD.
As nurses, our job is to be the patient’s advocate. With this, we need to be vigilant of new treatments as they may be cheaper, safer, or more effective. This experience has shown us that there can be many routes to helping someone with a single disorder. Although one might be well-known and used, there are others that can provide the same effects that cause less harm.
Authors: Grace Caputo, Kaelyn Cortes, Daniela Feldmaier, Bella Pignatiello, and Sydney Sorrell
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Eyad Musallam, Department of Nursing
You must be logged in to post a comment.