Association for Behavior Analysis International

A child psychiatrist, general pediatrician, and behavior analyst all walk into a room and... The result is a discussion about how interdisciplinary collaboration on a 10-bed medical behavioral unit at a children's medical hospital has impacted everyone’s professional practice. Collaboration on the medical behavioral unit allowed capacity for practitioners from a variety of disciplines to use their unique skill sets to ensure that patients receive the most effective assessment and treatment. This has resulted in a larger emphasis on behaviorally-based treatments rather than the sole use of psychotropic medications. Non- behavior analytic practitioners report greater proficiency with behavioral terminology, better understanding of behavioral technologies, increased use of behavior analytic assessment and treatment, and overall improved outcomes for patients. Behavior analysts, in turn, gain an understanding about the impact of medical and psychiatric diagnoses on behavior. As a result, practitioners can re-focus resources as needed to patients and families with a greater understanding of why behaviors are occurring as well as providing more targeted treatment.