Documentation may seem like an every-day, mundane responsibility of a behavior analyst fulfilling their obligations to their clients and payers. However, good documentation practices can be just as beneficial to the behavior analyst. For example, a behavior analyst may be called to testify about a behavior plan in front a judge in a parental custody dispute, or they may be questioned by local law enforcement about a suspected case of abuse. Here, good documentation practices can increase the likelihood that an independent party (e.g., a judge or law enforcement) will find the behavior analyst’s account credible. Proper documentation practices are therefore critical to not only fulfill the behavior analyst’s ethical and legal obligations to client protection, but to also protect their own interests, livelihood, and ability to practice. The purpose of this presentation is to describe systems for how a behavior analyst can improve their documentation practices. The presentation will also feature useful tools, tricks, and strategies that behavior analysts can immediately put to use.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will describe ethical benefits of proper documentation practices
- Participants will list and identify the six steps of behavioral systems analysis
- Participants will use the six steps of behavioral systems analysis to identify and develop behavioral systems to improve documentation practices
About the Presenter
Overall this training was very validating for me. People often call me a perfectionist in reference to my diligence in everyday BCBA/Director documentation. This training should me that so much of what I did is absolutely ethical and essentially required as a part of my role. Some additional thoughts about organizing information for future use is an area I need improvement on. I feel strongly that as certificants we should not be punished by working for an agency that is not following the code and us not being able to access the records in the company system. Let’s start holding these companies accountable instead of the BCBAs who are continuing to work hard to meet client needs and remain ethical while also trying to put food on the table. One note of feedback to the presenter would be that I thought that some of this training might offer some tips on streamlining documentation processes and supporting clinicians and staff with this process based on the intro. That could certainly just be me though- I have ADHD and often interpret things differently than others : )
Course information
- Title: A Tutorial on Using Behavioral Systems Analysis to Improve Documentation Practices
- Presenter: Matthew Brodhead Ph.D., BCBA-D
- CEUs: 2 Learning - Ethics
- Duration: 1 hour and 40 minutes
- Customer Rating: (43)