Using older home care user experiences in performance monitoring.
Home care services play a fundamental role in England in supporting older and disabled people in their own homes. In order to identify and monitor the degree to which these services are providing good quality services, in 2003 the government required all councils with social services responsibilities (CSSR) to undertake user experience surveys among older service users. The questionnaire was required to include four questions, two of which were designed to be used as Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPI) reflecting the quality of home care of older people. Thirty-four local authorities participated in an extension study providing data from 21 350 home care users. The aim of the study was to answer three questions: (1) Do the performance indicators reflect home care quality? (2) Are the performance indicators using the most appropriate cut-off points? (3) What are the underlying constructs of home care quality? Evidence was found to support the use of two of the performance indicators and the current cut-off point being used for the satisfaction indicator. Factor analysis identified indicators of important dimensions of quality that were associated with overall satisfaction.
Jones
Karen
K
Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU), Cornwallis Building, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NF, UK. k.c.jones@kent.ac.uk
Netten
Ann
A
Francis
Jennifer
J
Bebbington
Andrew
A
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003153:Community Health Services; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D011897:Random Allocation; D006113:United Kingdom