A qualitative study of therapeutic effect from a user's perspective.
This study investigated the experiences of adults who have completed a course of therapy for stammering. The objective was to inform clinicians about the effect of therapy by listening to the client's own account of the experience after they had been discharged from therapy. The study involved individuals discussing their experiences and their views on the effect of therapy in an in-depth, semi-structured interview. The individual transcripts were subjected to analyses and several major themes emerged. A number of the themes had implications for clinical practice and these were considered in detail. The value of having a dialogue with clients about the effect of therapy after it has formally come to an end is discussed in relation to monitoring of therapeutic effectiveness.


OBJECTIVE
The reader will be able to: (1) describe ways of evaluating the effect of therapy; (2) summarize qualitative methodology involving interviewing techniques; (3) utilize the client experience of therapy in monitoring therapeutic effectiveness.
Stewart
Trudy
T
Speech and Language Therapy Department, Leeds East PCT, St. James Hospital, Beckett Street, Leeds LS9 7TF, UK. trudy.stewart@nhs.net
Richardson
Gillian
G
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000592:standards; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D013070:Speech Therapy / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards; D013342:Stuttering / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome