Goyang-si Completes 'Positive Behavior Support Project for Challenging Behaviors of People with Developmental Disabilities'

Training on Practical Case Application
Implementation of Worker Burnout Prevention Program

Goyang Special City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Dong-hwan) announced on the 11th that it has concluded the “Positive Behavior Support for Challenging Behaviors of People with Developmental Disabilities” (hereinafter referred to as “Positive Behavior Support”) project, which was conducted for workers providing welfare services to people with developmental disabilities in the city.

Goyang Special City is concluding the project "Positive Behavior Support for Challenging Behaviors of People with Developmental Disabilities," conducted for workers providing welfare services to people with developmental disabilities in the area. Provided by Goyang Special City

This project was organized and conducted by the Developmental Disability Family Team of the Disability Welfare Division of Goyang City since 2022, consisting of education on practical case application methods and programs to prevent worker burnout, and it has been a project with high satisfaction among participants every year.

This year, under the sub-theme “Debriefing,” the project was carried out with the goal of reviewing the support process after assisting challenging behaviors of people with developmental disabilities and exploring better support methods.

From September to December, education was provided by inviting expert instructors in various fields on topics such as Person-Centered Practices (PCP) aimed at the growth of people with developmental disabilities, understanding the minds of people with developmental disabilities, environmental changes in institutions, and positive behavior support.

A total of 222 workers from 23 welfare service provider institutions in the city participated in this project, which included seven educational sessions and two burnout prevention programs. Even after the planned curriculum ended in November, an additional real-time study session via ZOOM was held in December due to the enthusiasm of both participants and instructors.

The education conducted in 2022 and 2023 was held over nine consecutive sessions to further strengthen participants’ capabilities. However, some workers could not participate due to the burden of work absences caused by attending the training from the perspective of service providers.

Reflecting on this feedback and aiming to increase understanding of “Positive Behavior Support” among more workers at welfare service provider institutions for people with developmental disabilities in the city, the 2024 program was structured as seven single-session trainings.

Although the training was single-session based, all seven sessions were conducted under the broad theme of “Positive Behavior Support,” covering various approaches and methods of understanding, resulting in high overall satisfaction. Many participants also expressed a desire to participate in related future training.

Among the 2024 training sessions, the time allocated to sharing case videos of the Integrated Care (Challenge Project) conducted in Seoul was highly regarded as helpful for field workers preparing for the government’s policy on intensive care for the most severe cases.

A burnout prevention program for workers was also conducted. Reflecting the results of a prior needs survey, the first session added vitality to daily life through a musical viewing. The second session focused on learning how to accurately recognize and manage one’s emotions.

Participants gave positive feedback such as, “It was good to have time to reflect on myself through cultural activities,” “It was nice to be able to participate with workers from other institutions,” and “I felt comfortable looking into my own feelings.” Furthermore, 100% of participants expressed willingness to join future burnout prevention programs, indicating a strong demand among workers for such programs alongside education.

Regarding the education, many positive comments were received, including “It was good to hear vivid real-life cases from the field,” “It was useful to learn materials applicable to the actual work environment,” and “It was a time to reflect on the users and an education that helped me grow.”

In addition to feedback on the content, there were opinions on the necessity of education such as “It would be good to continue education related to developmental disabilities,” “I hope consulting projects will be operated,” and “It would be good to have longer sessions for advanced training.”

A representative of Goyang Special City stated, “Since 2022, we have been conducting education methods on ‘Positive Behavior Support’ for three years. Moving forward, we plan to operate the project in a focused consulting format for practical case application so that workers who have participated in the education can become ‘Positive Behavior Support’ experts and mentors within the city.” He added, “Through the ‘Positive Behavior Support’ project, we hope that not only people with developmental disabilities using the institutions but also the workers supporting them can fill their daily lives with a feeling that it was ‘a meaningful and decent day, rather than just time passing by or mere caregiving.’”