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Primer on Pill Swallowing
1. Introduction
The following guidelines on teaching children to swallow pills accompany a videotape which demonstrates this technique. To order copies of the pill swallowing videotape, please call (
The video and the brochure are intended to instruct medical caregivers in a technique to teach pill-swallowing to children. This technique relies on the behaviour modification principle of shaping. Shaping involves teaching a child to do a difficult task by starting with a simple task and moving to progressively more difficult tasks. In this case, the child starts with very small pills and moves to large pills. Using this technique should help children keep performance anxiety low and motivation high, both of which are important while learning pill swallowing. Using this technique in the manner in which it is presented and with children for whom it is intended, should result in children quite rapidly gaining skill and confidence in pill-swallowing.
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