Lifestyle gains linked to positive behaviour support

A new study shows the wider lifestyle benefits associated with positive behaviour support-based approaches and the need to capitalise on these gains

Service developments in the UK have sought to advance the application of positive behaviour support (PBS) as an intervention model to reduce behaviours of concern and improve the quality of life of people with a learning disability.

Previous research and evaluations have reported PBS to be associated with improvements in behaviour and, less consistently, quality of life.

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A Welsh study looked at the use of PBS in a multidisciplinary, community-based, intensive support service to understand more fully its wider impact on adaptive functioning, opportunities for engagement in meaningful activities and quality of life.

A range of pre- and post-intervention measures used routinely in the service to help understand outcomes and impacts were reviewed for a cohort of people with a learning disability.

PBS associated with a range of significant improvements

These were people who had been referred to the team between 2010 and 2018 for functional behavioural assessments and the subsequent development of PBS plans.

Analyses of resulting outcomes data demonstrated that PBS was associated with significant reductions in the intensity, frequency and duration of behaviours that challenge, as well as improvements in attention, concentration, mood and quality of life.

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The study also found PBS to be associated with a range of significant environmental improvements, including improved access to resources and opportunities, motivation to engage in a range of meaningful activities, and reduced environmental restrictions.

This study is important in alerting practitioners to the wider lifestyle benefits associated with PBS-based approaches and the need to capitalise on these gains.

Reference

Lewis N, Reynolds E, Vale M et al (2019) An evaluation of positive behavioural support implemented within an intensive community support service for people with learning disabilities who present with behaviours that challenge

Dave Atkinson is an independent consultant nurse