The untapped potential of behaviour analysis and interprofessional care

ABSTRACT

Interprofessional collaboration has become a sought-after component of quality mental health care. Higher education institutions and mental health organizations seek to equip clinicians with the ability to provide cohesive clinical services while working collaboratively with a diverse group of professionals. Although research suggests that there may be benefits of interprofessional collaboration in mental health settings, collaborative practice initiatives have struggled with conceptual and methodological limitations. A behaviour analytic contribution to interprofessional care provides a philosophical position with an analytical goal distinguished by the prediction and influence of events, theoretical clarity, and methodological rigour that are needed within interprofessional research and practice. At the philosophical level, the extension of functional contextualism to interprofessional care research may provide a framework to achieve the valued ends of improving interprofessional collaboration and ultimately improving health-related outcomes for service users. Interprofessional collaboration can be conceptualized as metacontingency, a behaviour analytic concept that allows for a group level analysis of contributing social components. This paper uses the example of mental health care to guide a conceptual analysis of the potential application of behaviour analytic methodology within interprofessional practice, research, and education.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional care
• behaviour analysis
• constructivism
• functional contextualism
• metacontingency

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Louis P. A. Busch

Louis P. A. Busch is a behaviour analyst working in the Forensic Dual Diagnosis Specialty Service at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Jennifer Porter

Jennifer Porter is a behaviour analyst and a professor in the behavioural science programs at George Brown College.

Lesley Barreira

Lesley Barreira is a behaviour analyst working in the Neonatal Follow-up Clinic at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.