The effect of pre-assessment information on clients' satisfaction, expectations and attendance at a mental health day centre.
An information sheet describing the nature of initial assessment sessions was sent to people referred to a mental health day centre. This study examines the effect of receiving the information on attendance at assessment, expectations of the session and subsequent satisfaction. A group of subjects who were sent the information were compared with a control group who were not. The former group were more likely to attend the initial appointment (82 per cent attended) than those who did not receive the information (57 per cent attended). Of those subjects who attended, the experimental group expressed greater satisfaction overall and with the session itself. There were no differences between the groups on other satisfaction measures, levels of state anxiety and expectations. It is concluded that the effect of the information sheet is most likely to be mediated by changes in satisfaction levels which may be raised by increased levels of personal attention.
Webster
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Department of Psychology, Newham Health Authority, East Ham, London, UK.
D000328:Adult; D003155:Community Mental Health Centers; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000523:psychology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011613:Psychotherapy