Covid-19: behavioral protocols - AARBA
Our Scientific Society, as one of the main reference centers in Italy and Europe focusing on the study of behavioral analysis, has decided to offer a direct contribution in regards of the critical moment society is facing and where behaviors make a difference.
We are all aware of the fact that the spread of the infection is due to the high-risk behaviors that are being carried out by individuals. Whether the use of risk actions from the same victims affected by the Covid-19, or whether the actions of managers, doctors, colleagues or other subjects causing repercussions for those around them.
Starting from this common knowledge the AARBA research team, thanks to it’s twenty-year of experience in the field of safety (BBS) and to it’s continues contribution to the study of the human behavior in the organizational field (OBM), has formulated two protocols on the management and modification of hygiene focused behaviors for the Covid-19 containment: one addressed to the health companies and a secondary one to the productive companies, due to their own and others’ survival can not stop the work.
Taking into consideration the difficulty of modifying a behavior without a clear vision of the scientific measurements (Functional Behavioral Assessment) and of their Contingencies of Reinforcement (Antecedents-Behavior-Consequences, ABA), our protocols, aiming for the reduction of infections, are established on the roots of the principles of behavioral analysis, taking inspiration by OBM and BBS protocols whose validity and efficiency have been scientifically tested by over 50 years of studies.
The protocols formulated by AARBA hinge on the effectiveness of OBM and BBS protocols: giving the opportunity of directly acting on the roots and objective causes related to safety, meaning the behaviors (what a worker does, says or acts in relation to his or others’ safety) and on their contingencies (Antecedent and Consequence stimulus), thereby modifying the results in terms of injuries, occupational diseases and the specific case of infections.
Aiming to reduce the possibility of diffusion of the Covd-19, the BBS project that specifically focuses on the Covid-19 containment measurements aims to:
- Develop and consolidate hygiene focused behaviors, generalized and resistant to extinction, in respect to the ministry guidelines that are currently in act, also providing a mechanism of identification for technical tools or devices that may be lacking or inadequate in the work areas;
- Develop a parametric measurement process for hygiene related behaviors (Safety Observation Process);
- Reduce the risk of infections on dependent workers and the community;
- Guarantee the continuity of the usual activity of production.
Naturally, the tool that will allow to achieve such objective, always through the observation of hygiene rules settled by the decree-law on the 23rd of February 2020 n.6 from the DECREE OF THE ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER stated on the 8th of March 2020, and of the successive “Protocol focusing on the measurements for the diffusion and containment of the COVID-19 virus in the workspaces” signed on the 14th of March 2020, and the behavioral checklist.
Operating based on the principles of evidence-based checklists that were formulated starting from the directives of the World Health Organization, the Ministry of Health, our Council President, and developed by the know-how of our researchers. It is indeed essential to adopt the behaviors described by the authorities, as specifically designed to minimize the risk. But it is equally important to know where, how and when to monitor them.
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Due to the international relevance that such COVID-19 protocol has in the field of Behavior Analysis and in the entire society, through the support and dedication of various international entities, the AARBA scientific community has been working on the translations of the protocol, in order to make it accessible for a vast number of communities. Currently we have the final translated version in Italian, English and German. However, we are working towards its translation in Portuguese.