Developmental Healthcare and ABA: A historical review, present state, and future directions to improve outcomes belongs in serious BCBA study because it shapes whether behavior-analytic decisions stay useful once they leave a clean training example and enter transition planning, adult service routines, vocational programming, and long-term support decisions. In Developmental Healthcare and ABA: A historical review, present state, and future directions to improve outcomes, for this course, the practical stakes show up in skills that remain meaningful when school supports disappear and adult expectations change, not in abstract discussion alone.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via HAWAI'I ASSOCIATION FOR BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS
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Join Free →Quality healthcare options for individuals with IDD have been inadequate for many years. Just the presence of an IDD diagnosis drops the life expectancy of an individual by up to 25 years (Lauer & McCallion, 2015). While the average American is expected to live to 75 years old, individuals diagnosed with IDD are expected to live to 50 - 60 years old. This is due, in part, to the inequalities in healthcare options for individuals with IDD and the barriers to treatment they face. In 2014, Krahn and Fox described the "Cascade of Disparities" and how failures in society and healthcare systems negatively affect individuals with IDD and their overall health outcomes. Disparities start with higher rates of adverse health conditions found in the IDD population. The impact of these conditions only worsens when disparities in attention to these needs increase. When adverse health conditions are not addressed, disparities in preventive care and promoting healthy practices to mitigate these conditions are not taught or accounted for. After years of adverse health conditions not being addressed or preventative measures being practiced, emergent needs become present, and the disparities in equitable access to healthcare lead to poor health outcomes, disease, and premature death for individuals experiencing IDD. Ervin and colleagues (2014) described myriad barriers to treatment that exacerbated the cascade of disparities mentioned above. They highlighted financial and funding barriers, insufficient incentives and training for providers, a lack of mobility access to facilities, and societal misconceptions leading to limited options and opportunities for adults with IDD to access healthcare. These barriers to treatment eventually cause preventable medical issues to become emergent, which require immediate attention in the form of emergency room and operating room services. General anesthesia and the operating room are the industry standard for adults who suffer from anxiety and are less than cooperative during dental procedures. Adults and children who have dental phobias and exhibit noncooperative behaviors during procedures can be challenging to see in an office setting, leading to the use of general anesthesia in an operating room (Rapisura et al., 2023). These procedures can be and have been completed without general anesthesia. Desensitization procedures, defined by McMullen, Mahfood, Francis, & Bubenik as "Systematic desensitization is a conditioning procedure in which the participant is repeatedly exposed to anxiety-causing situations while practicing a replacement or a response incompatible with anxiety-related behavior," can remedy the above-mentioned challenges. Data shows that through desensitization procedures and interventions (including virtual reality) performed by a BCBA in a healthcare setting at the Lee Specialty Clinic and Kramer Davis Health, patients with IDD are not only able to complete routine and invasive procedures, but they are also able to complete them without general anesthesia or restraints. Participants will review desensitization procedures, data showing operating room desensitization results, the use of virtual reality as an intervention, desensitization resources, how to advocate for better healthcare for individuals with IDD, and future directions of healthcare for individuals with IDD.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1 | General |
Brandon Franklin is a board-certified and licensed behavior analyst in Louisville, Kentucky. He has worked in the field of behavior analysis since 2011, providing services in the community, school districts, and medical settings. Brandon is currently Founder for Franklin Developmental Health Consultants, Chief BCBA for the Lee Specialty Clinic, and a Ph.D. student at Cambridge College, where his area of concentration is the desensitization of adult dental patients while gaining assent.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
279 research articles with practitioner takeaways
252 research articles with practitioner takeaways
236 research articles with practitioner takeaways
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All behavior-analytic intervention is individualized. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice. Treatment decisions should be informed by the best available published research, individualized assessment, and obtained with the informed consent of the client or their legal guardian. Behavior analysts are responsible for practicing within the boundaries of their competence and adhering to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.