Injury Prevention in Human Service Settings Serving Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities
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Date
2020-01-01
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Psychology
Program
Psychology
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This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/repro.php or contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu
This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/repro.php or contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu
Abstract
Staff working in health and human service settings (e.g., direct care staff) are at high risk of being injured on the job and workplace violence initiated by the very patients served results in the largest proportion of injuries to staff in these settings (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2015). Annual reports of workers in similar settings (e.g., psychiatric) document an upwards of 13.7 injuries per 100 full-time workers (Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS], 2014) which is significantly higher than jobs traditionally viewed as dangerous (e.g., mining or construction). Ample research exists for predicting staff injuries within psychiatric settings (e.g., Cunningham, Connor, Miller, & Melloni, 2003); however, little to no research has been conducted on risk factors in other human service settings, such as organizations who serve individuals with autism and related intellectual and developmental disabilities. Prediction of staff injury is important for this particular population because individuals diagnosed with autism and intellectual disabilities are a high risk of developing challenging behaviors (e.g., aggressive behavior, self-injurious), which may subsequently lead to staff injury (Gurney, McPheeters, & Davis, 2006). To date, this is the first study of our knowledge to 1) provide a thorough descriptive analysis of injuries in a high risk human service setting providing assessment and treatment services for individuals diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities who display severe behavioral disorders; 2) to identify patient, staff and contextual variables associated with one'slikelihood to be injured on the job in such a setting; and 3) develop a model that accounts for staff injuries in settings serving individuals who are at high risk of causing injury.