Client satisfaction: traditional care versus cluster care

The purposes of this study were to describe and compare the level of satisfaction of clients receiving traditional care and those receiving cluster care. None of the studies reviewed described client satisfaction in the traditional and cluster care service delivery models using a reliable and valid instrument. The study sample consisted of 77 Medicaid-eligible elderly clients from three different home care agencies in an urban city. Of the 77 subjects, 37 (48 per cent) received cluster care, and 40 (52 percent) received traditional care. After receiving approval from the home health care agencies, subjects who agreed to participate in the study were asked to sign a consent form and to complete a demographic data sheet and the Gray's Home Care Satisfaction Scale (GHCSS). Internal consistency reliability for the GHCSS is 0.78, with content validity present. An independent student's t test showed a statistically significant difference in the level of satisfaction of clients receiving traditional care and cluster care (t = -5.27, P = .0005). Clients receiving traditional care had higher levels of satisfaction than clients receiving cluster care. Additional findings showed that men in both the traditional and cluster care groups were more satisfied than women (t = -3.19, P = .003 and t = -2.96, P = .007, respectively). Analysis of variance showed that blacks in both the traditional and cluster care groups had lower levels of satisfaction than either whites or Hispanics. Implications of study findings are discussed.