Risks and Benefits of a Behavior Analytic Procedure
Consider this scenario: A family has contacted you about the care of their grandfather, Juan, who has Alzheimer's disease. The nursing home staff report that Juan engages in frequent elopement from the nursing home facility when unattended, and verbal aggression that has caused disruptions to the other nursing home residents. A review of the files shows that the nursing home contracted with a BCaBA who did not conduct a functional behavior assessment but advised setting limits, being consistent with rules, and blocking Juan from engaging in problem behavior. The nursing home staff decided to incorporate these strategies by restricting Juan from accessing the courtyard or roaming the halls, leaving him to stay all day in his room with only accompanied walks to therapies and the dining hall. Juan's behaviors escalated and they have stated they will be ordering the use of chemical restraints to block occurrences of the problem behavior.
For this assignment, complete the following:
-Consider Bailey and Burch's (2016) risk-benefit analysis model, taught in ICS. Use this Risk Analysis Worksheet [DOCX] to outline the risks and benefits of a behavior analytic procedure (remember chemical restraints are not behavior analytic).
-Prepare a formal letter to the family with your recommendations. Include a copy of the worksheet you used with your notes to conduct the risk-benefit analysis.
-Analyze, within the letter, at least five BACB ethical code elements that are relevant to your discussed behavior analytic procedure and this scenario.
-APA formatting:
-Resources: 2
-Length: 4–not including title or references page.
Bailey and Burch’s Risk-Benefit Analysis Model
Author’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Code and Name
Professor’s Name
Date
Risk-Benefit Worksheet
ABA Procedure
Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behavior (DRI)
Special Methods
In the case of Juan, DRI would help him to eliminate the undesirable behavior. Indeed, it is clear that Juan has Alzheimer’s disease, and he needs to be handled well to avoid offending him and escalating the symptoms. His family has contacted since they need help to manage Juan’s undesirable behaviors. DRI is used to reinforce behaviors incompatible with the problem at hand while withholding reinforcement for the desirable behaviors (Bailey & Burch, 2016). In the case of Juan, the problem behaviors are verbal aggression and frequent elopement from the nursing home when left unattended. The Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA) contacted by the nursing facility failed to conduct a functional behavior assessment. Setting limits for Juan, such as blocking him from engaging in the problem behavior, leaving him alone in his room all day, restricting him from accessing the halls or courtyard are not recommendable. In addition, using chemical restraints is not also the best thing to block Juan’s problem behavior. The best thing about using DRI is that it will weaken Juan’s problem behavior.
Risks
Risk Number
Risks
Notes
1
The lack of participating in social activities freely.
Juan cannot be allowed to participate in social activities freely since he can end up offending other residents of the nursing home if he engages in verbal aggression.
2
The reinforcement might not work effectively since Juan has Alzheimer’s disease.
Individuals with Alzheimer’s disease have problems in thinking, behavior, and memory that interfere with their daily tasks. As such, DRI might be ineffective in the short-term since no chemical constraints will be used (Landreville & LeBlanc, 2010). However, Juan will adopt the desirable behaviors in the long-term after he experiences positive outcomes.
3
No socialization without supervision.
Juan’s behaviors can disrupt others, which is why he should be supervised when socializing with others and reward him when he engages in positive behaviors (Bailey & Burch, 2016).
4
Verbal aggression might be difficult to reinforce.
Verbal aggression might be caused by Juan’s response after being interrupted from eloping. In that light, it might be difficult to help Juan recognize that verbal aggression is contributing to his loneliness.
Benefits
Benefit Number
Benefit
Notes
1
DRI will help to eliminate Juan’s problematic behaviors.
Restricting Juan from accessing the halls or courtyard, using chemical restraints, and leaving the person to remain in his room all days are limits not based from a functional behavior assessment (Bailey & Burch, 2016).
2
Juan will adapt to the good behavior due to positive reinforcement.
Juan needs to be shown and made to understand that eloping from the nursing home is not good and that engaging in verbal aggression hurts others. That way, he will start to stop engaging in such behaviors (Landreville & LeBlanc, 2010). For instance, Juan should be rewarded by allowing him to walk unsupervised if he does not elope from the facility or use verbal aggression.
3
Juan will be happy for being handled with care, respect, and dignity.
If Juan is handled well, unlike leaving him in his room all day and restricting him from interacting with others, he will change accordingly. However, since he has Alzheimer’...