Behavior disorder teams: An efficient institutional strategy

Abstract

Recent trends toward deinstitutionalization have lead to an increased prevalence of behavioral and physical handicaps within institutional populations. At the same time, funding allocations have remained constant or have reduced creating an ever increasing need for the most efficient and cost-effective delivery of services. The present article traces the evolution of a program designed to create in-house panels of experts in an intermediate care facility for nonambulatory, severely and profoundly retarded children. The model is proposed as a means of improving quality of care and staff expertise and reducing the need for outside consultation.The high prevalence of behavior disorders in people who are mentally retarded is well-documented. Groden, Domingue, Pueschel, and Deignan ( 1982) surveyed the prevalence of behavioral/ emotional problems in 11 14 mentally retarded children seen between 1970 and 1977 at an evaluation clinic. Twenty percent of their sample was found to exhibit some form of behavioral prob-*The authors would like to acknowledge the cooperation of the Heinzerling Memorial Foundation, Columbus, Ohio, and especially Chris Rafeld for supporting this project. James

Regionally Based Teams for the Treatment of Challenging Behaviour: A Three-year Outcome Study

“…The extent to which the establishment of regionally based specialist teams is the most efficient organisation structure for the delivery of behavioural interventions is a matter requiring further research. As indicated earlier, Dura and Mulick (1987) concluded that similar teams were effective in an institutional setting, but their conclusions were impressionistic rather than data based. It is only when various models of service delivery are examined in detail that firm conclusions about relative efficiency can be drawn.…”

“…While the literature generally indicates that behaviourally based methods are extremely effective in the treatment of challenging behaviour (Luiselli, Matson, & Singh, 1992;Reichle & Wacker, 1993;Repp & Singh, 1990), little research has focused on organisational structures for delivering those behavioural interventions. Dura and Mulick (1987) concluded that having specialists organised into teams was effective in treating challenging behaviours in an institutional setting.…”