Association for Behavior Analysis International

Healthcare settings, emergency departments (ED), and inpatient units can often be associated with stressors and triggers that may ultimately lead to increased levels of challenging behavior and noncompliance with medical procedures. Problem behaviors directly produce many negative effects on the individual who exhibits them including physical harm, exclusion and stigmatization, as well as reduced access to routine/preventative care (Davis & Gavidia-Payne, 2009; Hall, Bouldin, Andresen, & Ali, 2012). Problem behaviors can also be a source of frustration for providers who deliver medical care due to lack of knowledge and training on how best to serve children with behavioral health needs. Although behavior analysts are often familiar with training other disciplines on the use of behavior intervention strategies to decrease challenging behavior, healthcare systems present unique experiences and challenges when trying to disseminate effective behavior analytic strategies. The invited panelists will present three perspectives on working with children in healthcare settings. Topics will include providing clinical care through a behavioral consultation model, transdisciplinary training approaches and policy development for crisis prevention, applying antecedent- and reinforcement-based programs appropriately to improve treatment outcomes, and challenges with establishing applied behavior analysis (ABA) within medical settings.

Behavior analysts, healthcare providers,