A study of clients' perceptions of therapeutic effectiveness

A factor-analytic investigation was conducted to determine how adult communication-disordered clients perceive variables that speech-language pathologists feel are important to effective management. One hundred sixty-two subjects representing a relatively balanced distribution of sex, age, and disorder group responded to the study from private, hospital, and university speech clinics. The results indicated that clinician demographic characteristics contribute least to clients' perceptions of therapeutic effectiveness while technical and interpersonal skills are the more essential ingredients of clinical management. Similarities between clients', clinicians', and supervisors' perceptions are considered and implications are discussed.