Behavioral Safety Assessment and Intervention among Residential Care Providers of Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Many persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at risk for injury and physical harm due to unsafe environmental conditions. The present study addressed safety practices among care providers responsible for preventing access to hazardous materials among residential students living in two group homes. In a multiple baseline across settings design, the care providers were first exposed to visual cues intended to prompt access-prevention followed by visual cuing combined with graphic feedback. Care providers in one of the group homes demonstrated a high level of safety practices during baseline which continued throughout both intervention phases. In the second group home, a lower level of safety practices in baseline increased during the visual cuing intervention and remained stable with the addition of graphic feedback. The study demonstrates the contribution of behavioral assessment and intervention toward training and performance management of safety practices by residential care providers.