Increased clinic awareness and attitudes of independence through client advisory board membership

In order to determine the effect of client advisory board membership on clients' awareness of a clinic, and on client attitudes of independence, the responses of 13 board members were compared with those of 13 matched controls on two self-report measures (Clinic Recognition Test, Client Independence Questionnaire) before and after 3-month periods. Analysis of the results indicated that, whereas the responses of controls did not significantly change on the Client Independence Questionnaire, the responses of board members indicated a significant increase in attitudes of independence. And, even though both board members and control clients significantly increased their awareness of clinic and staff over 3 months, the awareness of the broad members was significantly greater than that of the control clients.