Functional behavioral assessment as a model for multidisciplinary assessment and treatment

Behavior, whether internalizing or externalizing, constitutes a primary challenge in any inpatient setting. In many cases, behavior may interfere with progress during inpatient treatment, resulting in the need for a behavioral strategy for those concerns. A multidisciplinary team approach is often necessary to fully identify and remediate interfering difficulties. Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is a team-based technique that offers a positive option to these types of difficulties. This article provides a rationale for and delineates the use of FBA as a strategy for assessment and treatment for a complex care patient. Two uncontrolled case studies (pediatric rehabilitation and cancer) are used to illustrate the use of FBA in the tertiary hospital setting. Both cases demonstrated improvements in behavior with limited resources (time and training) needed to implement behavioral plans. Additional case-controlled research is needed to demonstrate the feasibility and utility of FBA as a strategy for multidisciplinary treatment planning and intervention.