Projects / Programmes
Impact of some factors on the evaluation of processes of care in the rehabilitation programs for children with disability
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 3.08.00 |
Medical sciences |
Public health (occupational safety) |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| B007 |
Biomedical sciences |
Medicine (human and vertebrates) |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 3.05 |
Medical and Health Sciences |
Other medical sciences |
children with disability, assessment, processes of care, parents, professional co-workers
Researchers (4)
| no. |
Code |
Name and surname |
Research area |
Role |
Period |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
24318 |
PhD Mojca Debeljak |
Systems and cybernetics |
Researcher |
2010 - 2013 |
0 |
| 2. |
21592 |
PhD Katja Groleger Sršen |
Public health (occupational safety) |
Researcher |
2010 - 2013 |
0 |
| 3. |
17837 |
PhD Gaj Vidmar |
Systems and cybernetics |
Researcher |
2010 - 2013 |
0 |
| 4. |
08292 |
PhD Anton Zupan |
Neurobiology |
Head |
2010 - 2013 |
0 |
Organisations (1)
Abstract
Address: Impact of some factors on the evaluation of processes of care in the rehabilitation programs for children with disability
Scientific background: There are many research reports about the impact of chronic illness of a child or its disability on the child itself and whole family. They are at increased risk for social and mental health problems. Risk factors are child variables, characteristics of the family and aspects of the services available to them. By knowing more about processes of care we might improve the system and alleviate or prevent the possible psychosocial difficulties of children and parents. The CanChild research group (McMaster University of Hamilton, Canada) developed a questionnaire for evaluation of processes of care (Measure of process of care – MPOC) for parents and professionals (MPOC-SP). Problem identification: There is no such instrument in Slovenia. Without a precise analysis of the current state we can not really talk about the quality of care and we can not influence and improve any of the processes of care. Objectives: to evaluate psychometric properties of Slovene version of MPOC and MPOC-SP, to identify the importance of several demographic factors and characteristics of different (re)habilitation programs, to identify a correlation between the results of the evaluation of processes of care and the level of parent satisfaction and to evaluate the sensitivity of MPOC and MPOC-SP to a change in processes of care. Uniqueness of results: It would be the first of such studies in Slovenia and it would the be first time ever that we would try to evaluate the sensitivity of MPOC to a change. This would be important finding and a basis for development of a system for evaluation and influence on processes of care. Methods: Parents of children that were admitted to children dept. of the Institute for rehabilitation, Republic of Slovenia, two departments of Pediatric Hospital in Ljubljana and outpatient clinics of Health Centres for children with chronic diseases or neurodevelopmental disorders all over Slovenia in the period from 1.1. to 31.12.2009 will be invited to cooperate. The second group will be professionals that work at these departments. The protocol: sending the questionnaires on stress, complexity of child’s disease and MPOC for parents and professionals; analysis of data, organization of educational seminars on family centered service and re-evaluation after one and two years. Expected results: We expect to find good psychometric properties of MPOC. We expect to find some factors to be significantly connected with the level of parents’ satisfaction, the presence of key person, number of family members that take care of a child, sources of information available to parents and aspects of the services available to them. We hope to prove also the sensitivity of MPOC and MPOC-SP to a change in processes of care. The potential influence of the results: Based on data from the literature no one checked the sensitivity to a change in processes of care yet. This would be important finding and a basis for development of a system for evaluation and influence on processes of care. We could also suggest some possible changes in the educational programs of experts that work in the field of health system
Significance for science
According to data from the literature there was not any instrument to evaluate processes of care for children with chronic illness available in Slovenia. Being unable to evaluate processes of care we were also not able to judge the quality of services or plan programs to improve them. By using MPOC and MPOC-SP we were able to identify some behaviours of health care providers that could be changed, and developed an education program to do so. To our knowledge, the sensitivity to change of MPOC-20 has not been evaluated before the beginning of our study. We found significant change/improvement in responses of parents so we believe that MPOC-20 is sensitive to a change. Re-evaluation of the situation after implementation of the education program and implementation of a family-centred service education program with positive results is an important novelty for all working in the field of rehabilitation of children. This also means that educational programs can lead to an important change in behaviours of health care providers, reflected in parents’ perceptions of services. Based on that, this knowledge on the FCS concept could become an important part of basic education for health care providers. It also means that we are not just able to describe the experiences of parents with health care providers’ behaviour, but also to monitor the quality and effectiveness of educational programs. Positive results also support the idea of possible positive impact of environmental factors on a disabled child and possible positive impact of personal factors of parents and health care providers, who contribute to a child’s environment.
Significance for the country
One of the most important goals in the society is health for all people. Besides, also satisfaction, quality of life and success in the professional life are important aspects of life. At the same time we have to be aware there are a lot of people, including children, with chronic health conditions, disabilities, who are experiencing stress and lower quality of life. Studies show that parents of children with chronic health problem or developmental disorder experience increased stress and burden. Mothers of those children have significantly more emotional and even psychiatric problems. It has also been shown that the mental health of mothers depends on the level of the child’s disability. Parents of those children are having 2 to 2.7 times higher risk to develop mental problems or even need an in-patient intervention program. It has been suggested, based on clinical experience and a substantial body of research, that the content and style of care-giving provided by health care professionals may be an alternative way to determine how to alleviate or prevent the possible psychosocial difficulties. One basic condition for that is first to understand processes of care provided by health care professionals and then to try to make changes and develop a system for their improvement. In the context of the study we evaluated processes of care of children with chronic health problems. We focused on behaviours of health care providers in those processes. Based on that, we are able to better determine those behaviours that might be influenced. Through the educational program on ˝family centred service˝ and supervision group we tried to influence behaviours of health care providers and parents and possibly decrease the incidence of psychosocial problems of parents. In this way we tried to help parents and families to have less psychological problems and higher quality of life.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2010,
2011,
2012,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2010,
2011,
2012,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
