Inside JABA #4, Session 123: Telehealth and Public Health Special Series

In the fourth edition of the Inside JABA Series, I am joined by Drs. Dorothea Lerman, Linda LeBlanc, and Matt Normand to discuss the forthcoming JABA Special Series on Telehealth and Public Health.

Linda and Matt are no strangers to this podcast, but this is Dorothy Lerman's first time on the show, so by way of introduction, she is currently a Professor of Behavior Analysis at the University of Houston - Clear Lake, where she directs a master’s program in behavior analysis and serves as Director of the UHCL Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities.

Additionally, she has published more than 80 research articles and chapters, served as Editor-in-Chief for The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and Behavior Analysis in Practice and has secured more than $2 million in grants and contracts to support her work.

In this episode, we discuss the motivation behind commissioning this special series, what exactly a special series is (and how it is different than a special issue and special section), the previous work in these two overlapping areas that has been published in past editions of JABA, the topics of some of the submitted papers for this special series, research questions for future work, and much more.

While I believe the entire episode has value, the second half of the conversation - the part where we talk about what we do and don't yet know about telehealth, probably has the most direct relevance to practitioners right now. That's not to take away the importance of applying Behavior Analytic principles towards things like obesity, proper infant positioning, and the like, but nearly all Behavior Analysts have had to transition to remote work in some shape or form. To that end, I hope you find that portion of the show particularly informative.

As always with these Inside JABA Series podcasts, there are no commercials other than to say that if you find this information helpful and want to earn CEU's for listening to the show, then head over to behavioralobservations.com/get-ceus, and follow the prompts from there. I should also note, 50% of the proceeds from all the Inside JABA Series Podcasts go towards supporting the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. If you're in a pinch and need more than a few CEU's there are volume discounts available for all the continuing ed offerings, of which we have over 20 and counting.

We mentioned quite a few studies during the conversation, and I tried my best to jot them all down while we were chatting and have the links below. As always, feel free to contact me if I've missed any.

• The Control of Eating; Ferster, Nurnberger, and Levitt (1962).
• A Three-Dimensional Program for the Treatment of Obesity; Stuart (1971).
• The Consecutive Controlled Case Series; Hagopian (2020).
• Conducting Functional Analyses of Problem Behavior via Telehealth; Wacker, et al. (2017).
• Less is More: Psychologists Can Learn More by Studying Fewer People; Normand (2016).
• Telemedicine and ABA, an Interview with Dr. Wendy Machalicek (2017/2020).
• Telehealth resources from the Council of Autism Service Providers.

There were quite a few more papers that were discussed that will be in the forthcoming issue of JABA, so if you're not already subscribed, please consider doing so.