A Systematic Review of Interventions for Improving the Work Performance of Direct Support Staff

Beliefs and habits: staff experiences with key word signing in special schools and group residential homes

“…Because direct support staff may have had few KWS skills (Meuris et al, 2014), consistent use of KWS might have required too much cognitive effort. In keeping with the reports that close proximity of a trained colleague was helpful, perhaps the presence of a communication specialist who supervises and provides immediate feedback in natural settings can facilitate self-feedback (Kent-Walsh & McNaughton, 2005;Wooderson, Cuskelly, & Meyer, 2014). Similarly, immediate access to KWS information in the classroom or group home, via video performances of manual signs, for example, might lower the barrier for KWS.…”

Evaluating the Performance Improvement Preferences of Disability Service Managers: An Exploratory Study Using Gilbert's Behavior Engineering Model

“…Despite the complex nature of disability services and concerns that FLMs in disability services are not provided with the necessary training and professional development to optimize workplace performance, there is a paucity of research examining FLMs’ actual understanding of performance improvement (Wooderson et al . ). The present authors could not identify any literature examining the performance improvement practices of managers in disability services.…”

“…Only one study (Wooderson et al . ) has tested Gilbert's () contention by directly comparing the effectiveness of these two approaches. Wooderson et al .…”

“…Wooderson et al . () analysed 77 performance improvement interventions conducted in services for people with intellectual disability and found that interventions which sought to address problems in the work environment were more effective than interventions which focused solely on changing the individual characteristics of staff.…”

“…However, none of these studies compared the effectiveness of different performance improvement approaches. Only one study (Wooderson et al 2014) has tested Gilbert's (1978) contention by directly comparing the effectiveness of these two approaches. Wooderson et al (2014) analysed 77 performance improvement interventions conducted in services for people with intellectual disability and found that interventions which sought to address problems in the work environment were more effective than interventions which focused solely on changing the individual characteristics of staff.…”