A participative management approach for improving direct-care staff performance in an institutional setting.
Teach direct-care staff a brief self-management loop and their positive contacts with residents rise without extra supervision.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The authors worked with aides in a home for adults with intellectual disabilities.
Staff were taught a four-step loop: watch their own work, set a small goal, score themselves, and pick their own reward.
No supervisor stood nearby with a checklist; the aides ran the loop themselves during normal shifts.
What they found
When staff used the loop, their positive interactions with residents rose.
Resident appropriate behavior also improved.
Gains stayed moderate several weeks later, even after prompts stopped.
How this fits with other research
Gerhardt et al. (1991) copied the same loop with university-housing students and saw five-year maintenance, showing the idea travels across jobs.
Nishimura et al. (1987) swapped self-management for principal-delivered feedback across 21 classrooms and still got two-year gains, proving the goal matters more than the channel.
Johnson et al. (1994) kept the setting but used a weekly supervisor checklist instead of self-ratings and hit similar staff gains, so external checks can match self-checks when time is short.
Rogers-Warren et al. (1976) ran an earlier lottery for days off in a similar facility; the 1983 package replaced luck-of-the-draw prizes with self-chosen rewards, giving staff daily control rather than weekly hope.
Why it matters
You can hand direct-care staff a one-page loop today: “Count your positives, aim for five more, mark yes or no, pick a coffee sticker.” No extra supervisor hours needed. If self-management feels heavy, fall back to a quick supervisor checklist; both roads lift performance. Either way, put the loop where staff already work and let them own the score.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The present study evaluated a participative management approach for increasing the frequency of interactions between institutional staff and severely/profoundly retarded residents. The participative management approach involved teaching staff how to use self-monitoring, standard setting, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement procedures. These procedures were then used by staff with minimal involvement of supervisory personnel. Although supervisors provided feedback and praise to staff for using these self-management behaviors, feedback and praise were never dispensed contingent on staff interactions with residents. Results indicated that during the participative management program there was an increase in staff interactions that were contingent on appropriate resident behavior. The increase in this type of staff interaction was accompanied by an increase in appropriate resident behavior. Follow-up data on both staff and resident behaviors, although showing moderating trends, suggested generally good maintenance of the initial behavior changes. Acceptability data suggested that staff were quite receptive to the program. The advantages of participative management procedures for improving staff performance in residential settings are discussed.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1983 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1983.16-37