The effectiveness of staff support: evaluating Active Support training using a conditional probability approach

Active Support, a package of procedures which includes activity planning, s upport planning, and training on providing effective assistance, was introd uced in five community residences serving 19 adults with severe mental reta rdation following a multiple baseline design. Real-time observational data were collected on the level of assistance residents received from staff and their engagement in activity. Active Support was shown in a companion pape r (Jones et al., 1999) to increase the levels of assistance residents recei ved and their engagement in activity. Increased assistance was particularly experienced by the behaviorally less able and the disparity in activity be tween the more and less able was reduced. In the analysis presented here, t he effectiveness of assistance was evaluated before and after Active Suppor t training by calculating the likelihood of engagement occurring given the occurrence of assistance. This likelihood was represented by the statistic, Yule's Q. Yule's Q significantly increased following Active Support traini ng, an increase that was maintained at follow-up. The increased effectivene ss of assistance was related to other research findings on the relationship between staff: resident interaction patterns and resident behavior.