Alexandros Maragakis (editor) - Applications of Behavior Analysis in Healthcare and Beyond

Our goal is to highlight the applicability, the implementation, and the utility of behavior analysis across a wide range of socially meaningful domains. While a relatively narrow specialization in neurodevelopmental disorders has become the norm, historically behavior analysts trained broadly and took experimental methods from the lab to health service settings and beyond. The following introduction pays homage to these beginnings and calls attention to the behavior analysts who held concurrent leadership positions within behavior analysis and psychological organizations from 1966 to 1975. Since then, the impact of behavior analysis has grown steadily.

This book showcases behavior analytic work with many populations across a wide variety of settings. Contributors are experts in their fields. They describe their work in relation to the relevant licensing frameworks for their scope of practice and in terms of competencies for their profession, while considering behavior analytic benchmarks for training. We hope that their skillful applications of behavior analysis will surprise you, spur curiosity, and encourage you to learn more about behavior analysis and its applications. This book is an opportunity to see the multitude of possibilities this field holds.

The workforce growth of behavior analysis as a standalone profession has accelerated since healthcare insurance reform introduced reimbursement for intervention services for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (Burning Glass Technologies ). This application of behavior analysis mostly focuses on children and is an important area of practice; yet its reach is relatively small considering the full range of socially meaningful behaviors that could be addressed with behavior analysis.

As the scope of training in behavior analysis has narrowed to allow specialization in autism spectrum disorders , an overview of other applications is timely and needed. This book provides a broad perspective of behavior analytic applications to inspire and to evoke interest among students and practitioners. It showcases effective work with diverse populations in a wide variety of settings. We anticipate that most readers will be surprised by this breadth, and we hope that this volume will generate excitement among readers and prompt them to learn more about behavior analysis in its diverse applications. In addition to being of general interest, we see this book as a useful supplement to courses in applied behavior analysis at the undergraduate and graduate levels, to give students an opportunity to see the multitude of possibilities this field holds.

Eastern Michigan Universitys clinical behavioral masters program prepares students for the board certification in behavior analysis (Behavior Analysis Certification Board(R)). At the same time, we also train our masters students to enter clinical psychology settings, such as community behavioral health or integrated primary care . Our goal to shape behavior analytic repertoires that are versatile and open many doors is associated with large practicum and course loads for our graduate students. We, the editors, often discuss: Should we train narrowly, creating experts in one presenting problem such as autism spectrum disorder, for which a reimbursement system is in place? Or should we train broadly, across a range of presentations? The annual convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) , which some of us have attended for more than a quarter century, provides a home for ideas and explorations in basic and applied science. In its mission statement, ABAI expects its members to contribute to the well-being of society by developing, enhancing, and supporting the growth and vitality of the science of behavior analysis through research, education, and practice. Here, the emphasis appears to be on broad training , as used to be the case for all behavior analysts.