Preliminary investigation of two functional assessment methods for people with dementia: Effectiveness and acceptability

Rebecca A Sharp,Robert S P Jones,Zoe R Lucock

doi:10.1002/bin.1747

Rebecca A Sharp, Robert S P Jones + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.1747

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Journal: Behavioral Interventions	Publication Date: Sep 22, 2020
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Bangor University

Abstract

AbstractMany functional assessment procedures have been developed and validated for use with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, there is a paucity of research exploring the utility and social acceptability of functional assessment methods for people with dementia. We conducted direct observations in the natural environment to produce data for conditional probability analyses and an experimental functional analysis of the behavior of two women with dementia. We found that the conditional probability analysis yielded similar conclusions about function as the data from the experimental functional analysis for both participants. Importantly, staff rated the direct observations as more socially acceptable. We also report barriers to conducting both methods in older adult settings that warrant further exploration, including the use of the assessments with people with dementia and intact vocal verbal repertoires.

Highlights

IntroductionThere are a number of assessment procedures for problematic behaviors that are available for behavior analysts (e.g., experimental functional analyses and conditional probability analyses)
SHARP ET AL.There are a number of assessment procedures for problematic behaviors that are available for behavior analysts
We found that the conditional probability analysis yielded similar conclusions about function as the data from the experimental functional analysis for both participants

Summary

Introduction

There are a number of assessment procedures for problematic behaviors that are available for behavior analysts (e.g., experimental functional analyses and conditional probability analyses). Many of these assessments were developed for and validated with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Experimental functional analyses (Iwata et al, 1994) allow behavior analysts to find functional relations between target behaviors and environmental variables. They allow for the development of a function‐based intervention that is more likely to be effective than an intervention that is developed without knowledge of the maintaining variables. Experimental functional analyses have been used with people with dementia to determine the function of a number of topographies of behavior including disruptive vocalizations (Buchanan & Fisher, 2002), aggression (Baker & Hanley, 2006), disruptive behaviors and wandering (Dwyer‐Moore & Dixon, 2007), and “sundowning” (Stadlober, Sharp, & Mudford, 2016)

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