RAID (Reinforce Appropriate, Implode Disruptive) is a positive psychology least restrictive practice approach for working with people who exhibit challenging behaviour. The RAID approach is written by Dr William Davies and is published and distributed by the Association for Psychological Therapies. Over 20,000 professionals working in Mental Health and related areas are trained in the RAID approach, mainly in the UK and Ireland. It is now in its 11th edition. [1]
The RAID model advocates a philosophy of care where professionals “play down disruptive behaviours as far as safety allows, and concentrate on recognising and reinforcing appropriate behaviour, so that it gradually displaces the disruptive behaviour”. [2] It emphasises how the most extreme behaviours can be addressed through proactive encouragement of positive qualities and behaviours shown by an individual and clearly focuses on providing individuals with rewarding opportunities for progress. [3]
The aim is for the professional to focus on ‘green’ (positive) behaviours and reduce opportunities for ‘red’ (challenging or less positive) behaviour thereby developing a therapeutic milieu. [4] The process involves rewarding positive or ‘green’ behaviours in ways that help patients recognise their achievements; whilst ‘red’ (negative) behaviours are safely played down through the use of strategies such as distraction techniques. [5]
As a proactive approach, the RAID Model contrasts with approaches such as extinction and punishment (as used in Operant Conditioning) in that the RAID Model allows you to act in the absence of extreme behaviour, whereas punishment and extinction only allow you to act when the extreme behaviour occurs (and to have approaches to extreme behaviour that relies upon the extreme behaviour happening is viewed by many as undesirable). The RAID model is usually viewed as an example of the Constructional Approach in Behaviour Modification and as such attempts to solve problems by building positive behaviors which displace the negative ones. This contrasts with the eliminative approach which focuses on the problem behavior (with the aim of eliminating it).
The RAID Approach was written in 1990 by Dr William Davies, and established itself as a standard for setting and reinforcing positive behaviours in the UK. [6] It was originally written as a positive approach to working with disturbed adolescents in secure conditions, but was quickly applied to people showing difficult and aggressive behaviour at any age, especially if they were in secure or residential facilities. Originally the approach described 13 relevant strategies for constructive working with such behaviour; the RAID acronym came later (1992), as a memory-aid for the general theme that underpins the strategies. [7]
The acronym RAID (standing for Reinforce Appropriate, Implode Disruptive) was registered as a UK trademark in 1992. [8] In January 2019, in the first case ever to be heard by the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) outside of London, the High Court judge, HH Melissa Clarke found that an NHS Foundation Trust had infringed the RAID trademark by using it to stand for Rapid Assessment Intervention and Discharge and they had to stop using it. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]
The RAID model has been measured through the Overt Aggression Scale - Modified for Neurorehabilitation (OAS-MNR) - and shown a decrease in aggressive behaviours by over 80% across a two year period. [19] Research also shown that the RAID model significantly reduced the number of incidents of challenging behaviour on a medium secure LD ward, [20] and a paper conducted by Dr Cheryl Knowles shown that that there was as significant increase in staff members’ confidence towards challenging behaviour - this was observed immediately post training, and maintained 4-months following the training. [21]
Training in the RAID approach is delivered by the Association for Psychological Therapies and has been attended by over 20,000 professionals working for the UK's National Health Service (including Rampton Secure Hospital [22] ) and independent healthcare providers (including: St Andrew's Healthcare, [23] The Priory Group, [24] Cygnet Health Care, [25] and Elysium Healthcare). [26]
Rampton Secure Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital near the village of Woodbeck between Retford and Rampton in Nottinghamshire, England. It is one of three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, alongside Ashworth Hospital in Merseyside and Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire. It is managed by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health trust based in north London. The Trust specialises in talking therapies. The education and training department caters for 2,000 students a year from the United Kingdom and abroad. The Trust is based at the Tavistock Centre in Swiss Cottage. The founding organisation was the Tavistock institute of medical psychology founded in 1920 by Dr. Hugh Crichton-Miller.
Bedford Hospital is a 400-bed district general hospital located in the English town of Bedford, serving north and mid Bedfordshire run by Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) is one of England's largest acute teaching trusts. It was established on 1 April 2006 following the merger of Nottingham City Hospital and the Queen's Medical Centre NHS Trusts. They provide acute and specialist services to 2.5m people within Nottingham and surrounding communities at the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) and the City Hospital campuses, as well as specialist services for a further 3-4m people from across the region.
West London NHS Trust is an NHS trust which provides mental and physical health services to the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham and Hounslow. It also provides some services on a national basis, including forensic and high-security services.
The Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS trust that provides mental health, learning disability and eating disorders services. It serves a population of around two million people living in County Durham, Darlington and most of North Yorkshire. It is geographically one of the largest NHS Foundation Trusts in England.
Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust is a National Health Service trust named after the ancient Oxleas Woods between Bexley and Greenwich.
Blackberry Hill Hospital is an NHS psychiatric hospital in Fishponds, Bristol, England, specialising in forensic mental health services, operated by the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. The hospital also offers drug and alcohol rehabilitation inpatient services, and is the base for a number of community mental health teams.
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust was established in Worcestershire, England, on 1 July 2011 to manage services previously managed by Worcestershire Primary Care NHS Trust's Provider Arm, as well as the mental health services that were managed by Worcestershire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust.
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust (BEH) is a large provider of integrated mental health and community health services in North London, providing services across Barnet, Enfield, and Haringey. The trust currently employs around 3,000 staff and serves a population of just over a million. The annual income in 2017-18 was c. £210 million.
Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was established on 1 February 2011, when Monitor, the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts, authorised Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust to become a Foundation Trust.
Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust was an NHS trust set up in October 2008. It provides mental health services across Dudley and Walsall, West Midlands, England. It runs Dorothy Pattison Hospital and Bloxwich Hospital in Walsall, and Bushey Fields Hospital in Dudley.
East London NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust which provides health services in East London and specialist services to a wider region.
Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust was formed in April 2006 by a merger between East Kent NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust and West Kent NHS and Social Care Trust.
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust runs a specialist mental health trust and provides learning disabilities, addiction management, acquired brain injury services and the provision of community nursing and therapies services in The City of Liverpool and Sefton. It provides secure mental health services for the North West of England, the West Midlands and Wales, one of only three NHS organisations in England offering high secure services. It also runs mental health wards at Rathbone Hospital in Wavertree, the Broadoak Unit at Broadgreen Hospital, Mossley Hill Hospital, Windsor House on Upper Parliament Street in Central Liverpool and Heys Court in Garston, Merseyside. The trust gained Foundation trust status in May 2016.
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, based in Nottinghamshire, England, manages the UK’s largest and most integrated Forensic High Secure facility Rampton Hospital near Retford, High Secure Women’s, High Secure Deaf, High Secure LD and Autistic as well as High Secure Men’s Mental Health), two medium secure units, Arnold Lodge in Leicester and Wathwood Hospital in Rotherham, and a low Secure Unit, Wells Road Centre at Mapperley in Nottingham.
William Davies is a Consultant Psychologist and author who, through his role in the Association for Psychological Therapies (APT) has directly influenced well over 125,000 mental health professionals, mainly in the UK.
Elysium Healthcare is a private provider of mental health services based in Borehamwood, UK. It was launched in December 2016 and combined sites from the portfolio of Partnerships in Care and The Priory Group when they were sold by Acadia Healthcare. It was owned by BC Partners. In October 2020 Elysium hired JP Morgan to advise on the sale of the business. The price tag was estimated to be circa £900 million. In December 2021 Ramsay Health Care UK bought the company for £775 million.
The Association for Psychological Therapies (APT) is a body providing recognition of excellence, training, resources, and accreditation to professionals working in Mental Health and related areas, mainly in the UK's National Health Service and Independent Health providers, but also in Canada and Australia.
Tatchbury Mount Hospital is a health facility to the north of Totton, Hampshire, England. It is owned and managed by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust and acts as the Trust's headquarters. The site was formerly a large psychiatric hospital with the majority of the buildings on the site dedicated to this purpose, however in recent years changes in the management of these patients has resulted in the uses for the site diversifying.