Premium
Conceptual frameworks in evaluation of multidisciplinary services for children with disabilities
Author(s) -
McConachie H. R.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
child: care, health and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2214
pISSN - 0305-1862
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2214.1999.25220098.x
Subject(s) - multidisciplinary approach , psychological intervention , audit , service (business) , participatory evaluation , quality (philosophy) , psychology , sample (material) , medical education , management science , process management , applied psychology , nursing , medicine , business , engineering , sociology , social science , philosophy , chemistry , accounting , epistemology , chromatography , marketing
Child disability services are under pressure to evaluate what they provide. Evaluation encompasses both the procedures they adopt and the outcomes for their clients, that is, for children and families. This paper presents practical frameworks for service evaluation, with examples from experience and from published literature. Individual services cannot carry out evaluation of the clinical effectiveness of particular interventions, but they can clarify their goals, institute regular audit projects, develop guidelines for their practice through participatory evaluation, and sample parents' views of the quality of the services they provide. Practical suggestions are made for the measurement of outcomes for individual children and families.