| Abstract: Early experimentalists, such as Azrin, Ferster, Sidman and many more, had a vision of exporting laboratory-derived operant principles to clinical practice settings. Systematically exploring the possibilities inherent in behavior analytic assessments and interventions, these pioneers and their students markedly raised the standards of care, most notably in areas limited to mere custodial or restraint-based services at the time, where progress had been deemed beyond clinicians? reach. Fast forward to more than half a century later: What do consumers in general clinical practice settings need today? How are the advances in the experimental analysis of behavior used to meet our most pressing public health concerns? This tutorial will link current public health issues with advances in the operant analysis of behavior. It will illustrate how an experimental approach to clinical questions, assessments, and interventions is relevant and timely in today?s health care environment, both as a problem-solving tool and a source of clinical innovation. |
 Dr. Claudia Drossel holds experimental and clinical doctoral degrees in behavior analysis. She is specialized in the assessment of and interventions for affective, behavioral, and cognitive changes associated with central nervous system disorders and injuries that occur in adulthood. Among those are neurodegenerative diseases, cerebrovascular accidents, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, and brain and spinal cord tumors. As a clinical expert in behavioral gerontology, she has co-authored a step-by-step manual illustrating a behavior analytic approach to degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Currently a fellow at the University of Michigan Health System, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Claudia’s clinical and research interests involve tertiary prevention and health promotion for adults with CNS injuries or disorders; aging with disabilities; collaborative care planning, and clients’ and families’ understanding and implementation of treatment recommendations. |