A family-specific use of the Measure of Processes of Care for Service Providers (MPOC-SP)

To examine the validity and utility of the Dutch Measure of Processes of Care for Service Providers (MPOC-SP) as a family-specific measure.

A validation study.

Five paediatric rehabilitation settings in the Netherlands.

The MPOC-SP was utilized in a general (reflecting on services provided for all clients and clients' families) and family-specific way (filled out in reference to a particular child and his or her family).

Professionals providing rehabilitation and educational services to children with cerebral palsy.

For construct validity, Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficients (r ) between the scales were calculated. The ability of service providers to discriminate between general and family-specific ratings was examined by exploration of absolute difference scores.

One hundred and sixteen service professionals filled out 240 family-specific MPOC-SPs. In addition, a subgroup of 81 professionals filled out a general MPOC-SP. For each professional, family-specific and general scores were paired, resulting in 151 general-family-specific MPOC-SP pairs. The construct validity analyses confirmed the scale structure: 21 items (77.8%) loaded highest in the original MPOC-SP factors, and all items correlated best and significantly with their own scale score (r 0.565 to 0.897; P<0.001). Intercorrelations between the scales ranged from r = 0.159 to r = 0.522. In total, 94.4% of the mean absolute difference scores between general and family-specific scale scores were larger than the expected difference.

Service providers were able to discriminate between general and family-specific MPOC-SP item ratings. The family-specific MPOC-SP is a valid measure that can be used for individual evaluation of family-centred services and can be the impetus for family-related quality improvement.