Service User Outcomes of Staff Training in Positive Behaviour Support Using Person‐Focused Training: A Control Group Study

Abstract

Background Effectively supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities who display challenging behaviours continues to be a priority for service providers. Personfocused training (PFT) is a model of service delivery which provides staff with skills in functional assessment and intervention development. Existing longitudinal data from a study of 138 cases suggest that implementation of staff-developed behaviour support plans through PFT is effective in reducing challenging behaviour in approximately 77% of cases [McClean et al. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research (2005) vol. 49, pp. 340-353]. However, no control group was used in this study. Method The current study involves the use of a control group of individuals with challenging behaviours matched against those selected for PFT over a 6-month period. Groups were matched on type of challenging behaviour, duration of challenging behaviour, gender and level of disability. Information on the frequency, management difficulty and severity of challenging behaviour was collected pre-and post-training using the Checklist of Challenging Behaviours (CCB) for both groups. Observational data were collected for the target group alone. Rates of psychotropic medication were tracked across the training period. Results Significant reductions in the frequency, management difficulty and severity of challenging behaviour were found for service users in the target group but not in the control group after 6 months. No significant changes were found in the use of psychotropic medication for either group over the 6-month period. Conclusion Overall results suggest that PFT is an effective model for providing support to individuals with challenging behaviours.

A component analysis of positive behaviour support plans

“…McClean et al (2005) analysed data from 138 staff-developed behaviour support plans over a 5-year period and observed signifi cant improvements in 77% of cases (defi ned as a reduction to below 30% of baseline rates of behaviour) and that at an average follow-up of 22 months such improvements were maintained. In a control group study, Grey and McClean (2007) observed similar improvements in a target group of clients but not in a matched control group of clients over a 6-month period, lending further support to the effi cacy of PFT.…”

“…However, there is little evidence to support such an argument. A previous control group study (Grey & McClean, 2007) tracked the effectiveness of PFT against a control group of individuals with similar challenging behaviours. Levels of psychotropic medication were very similar in both groups with only the PFT group showing changes in measures of challenging behaviours.…”

“…The trainer provided written and verbal feedback at each stage of the PFT process: background assessment, functional assessment, intervention design, and implementation. The training format is identical to that reported by McClean et al (2005) and Grey and McClean (2007).…”

Mindful Staff Can Reduce the Use of Physical Restraints When Providing Care to Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities

“…Training staff in behaviour management skills, positive behaviour supports and communication training programmes have resulted in reduced use of restraints (Allen et al. 1997; Grey & McClean 2007; Smidt et al. 2007).…”

Addressing increasing demands on Australian disability support workers

“…Yet, DSWs appear to benefit from meaningful supervision and managerial support to assist them in applying new learning (e.g., Grey & McClean, 2007;Stancliffe, Harman, Toogood, & McVilly, 2007). Johnson, Iacono, Hagiliassis, and Phillips (2010) found that DSWs desired such input from senior staff.…”