Inclusion As a Quality Of Life Outcome Through Multielement Behavior Support With Adults

Authors: Preeti Vogel, Rebecca L. Beights, PhD and Geoff Potter, PhD, Social inclusion and interpersonal relationships are two important areas within models of quality of life (e.g., Gomez et al., 2022; Schalock et al., 2016) and represent socially valid targets for behaviour support. Behaviours of concern are often barriers to inclusion and social interaction, which limits improvement and decreases these quality of life domains. Behaviour support practitioners are thereby called to action to assess and implement strategies that have quality of life as a primary outcome (Schwartz & Kelly, 2021). Multielement behaviour support (MEBS; LaVigna and Willis, 2005) answers this call with clear emphasis on increasing quality of life while decreasing the rate and severity of behavioral concerns. In the current study, MEBS was implemented for three adult participants with developmental and intellectual disabilities and behaviours of concern (e.g., verbal and physical aggression, self-injurious behaviour). Goals were identified with the participant and stakeholders following functional assessment. Goals included: 1) increasing meaningful engagement in participant-focused activities with stakeholder support, 2) reducing rate and severity of behaviours of concern, and 3) decreasing the use of restrictive practices. Results of the MEBS programming demonstrate increases in social inclusion and interpersonal relationships across home, community, and day program settings. Furthermore, results of MEBS show decreases in rate and severity of the behaviours of concern. Impact of MEBS and implications for quality of life will be discussed.