Using the Measure of Processes of Care to Assess Parents' Views of a Paediatric Therapy Service

Bobath Scotland is a tertiary referral centre providing therapy for children with cerebral palsy. The staff wanted to find a standardised tool that could assess parents' views regarding the care that their children had received. The aim of this study was to conduct a trial using a recently developed tool, the Measure of Processes of Care (MPOC) (King et al 1995), to investigate families' perceptions of the care received at Bobath Scotland and the extent to which they considered it ‘family friendly’.

The MPOC questionnaire was sent to the families who attended Bobath Scotland during a 12-month period. The MPOC consists of five scales: enabling and partnership; general information; specific information; coordinated and comprehensive care; and respectful and supportive care. Items are scored on a 7-point scale, from the behaviour ‘never’ occurs (1) to ‘occurs to a great extent’ (7). Mean scores are calculated for each scale.

Questionnaires were sent to 114 families and 72 were returned completed (63%). The mean scale scores were as follows: enabling and partnership, 6.3 (SD 0.64); general information, 4.3 (SD 1.69); specific information, 6.5 (SD 0.75); coordinated and comprehensive care, 6.3 (SD 0.75); and respectful and supportive care, 6.5 (SD 0.60).

The overall mean scale scores were high, demonstrating that families were satisfied with their care. The MPOC proved an appropriate tool to investigate the perceptions of care of families attending a paediatric centre.