Dissemination: We Share Knowledge
Since the 1980’s, behaviour analysts have been concerned with the perception of our field, noting many inaccuracies and misconceptions held by the public reflected poorly on our practices (Morris, 1985). Unfortunately, these still persist today, regardless of changes in clinical application and adopting of more compassionate, culturally informed and socially valued procedures that put the individual at the centre of our work. Recent updates to the positive behaviour support (PBS) framework to which we adhere has hoped to shine a light on this movement towards person-centred care (Gore et al., 2022) and our very ethics code requires the sharing of information about behaviour analysis through presentations and discussions (Behavior Analyst Certification Board®, 2020). It is for all these reasons that PBSC are passionate about sharing our knowledge and disseminating the good work that we do to improve lives.
We achieve this in a range of ways. We have been honoured to have presented at local conferences on our behaviourally intensive community-based suicide prevention model and the amazing outcomes we have achieved with over 65 autistic individuals. We are preparing to submit a concept paper on our tried and tested five-stage model that has supported hundreds of people and families to increase their safety; maintain placement in their homes, school and/or community; and improve their quality of life. We are constantly collaborating with others whether it includes speaking on podcasts about our work; conducting research on improving social validity measures and capturing client voice with the SF-DARRIN group; or working with universities to develop practicum experiences for graduate students. PBSC is dedicated to advancing the field of behaviour analysis and sharing our outcomes through dissemination. We know, in this, we are improving the quality of services provided by and, therefore, for all individuals.
References
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2020). Ethics code for behavior analysts. https://bacb.com/wp-content/ethics-code-for-behavior-analysts/
Gore, N. J., Sapiets, S. J., Denne, L. D., Hastings, R. P., Toogood, S., MacDonald, A., Baker, P., Allen, D., Apanasionok, M.M., Austin, D., Bowring, D.L., Bradshaw, J., Corbett, A., Cooper, B., Deveau, R., Hughes, J.C., Jones, E., Lynch, M., McGill, P., Mullhall, M., Murphy, M., Noone, S., Shankar, R. & Williams, D. (2022).
Positive behavioural support in the UK: A state of the nation report. International Journal of Positive Behavioural Support, 12(1), 4-39.
Morris, E.K. (1985).
Public information, dissemination, and behavior analysis. The Behavior Analyst, 8(1), 95-110.