Putting it on tape: audio taped assessment summaries for parents.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the benefits of giving parents tape recorded child development centre assessment report summaries.


METHODS
Prospective randomly allocated study.


METHODS
Child development centre, Birmingham Children's Hospital.


METHODS
Parents of 113 consecutive children attending for multidisciplinary developmental assessment.


METHODS
Recall of information and use of, and views on, the written and tape recorded summaries.


RESULTS
Parents who received the tape recording showed no increase in recall of the summary's content six weeks later. Forty three per cent of English speaking parents favoured the tape recorded summary, as did 89% of Urdu/Punjabi speaking parents.


CONCLUSIONS
Tape recorded summaries were popular with parents, but other methods are needed to help parents, especially those whose first language is not English, to understand the implications of multidisciplinary assessment of their child.
Ilett
S J
SJ
Child Development Centre, Birmingham Children's Hospital.
D002648:Child; D003142:Communication; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009035:Mothers; D010154:Pakistan / Q000208:ethnology; D010290:Parents; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011932:Reading; D013637:Tape Recording