Premium
Outcome measurement in speech and language therapy: results of a pilot study
Author(s) -
ENDERBY PAMELA,
JOHN ALEXANDRA,
SLOAN MARINA
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
international journal of language and communication disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.101
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1460-6984
pISSN - 1368-2822
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-6984.1995.tb01645.x
Subject(s) - psychology , speech therapy , clinical psychology , applied psychology , audiology , medicine
Speech and language therapy aims to effect different aspects of the patient's difficulties according to the underlying disorder. This pilot study aimed to investigate whether different patterns of change were reflected in various client groups receiving speech and language therapy, whether these changes concurred with the views of experts and whether the results were meaningful to purchasers. Ten pilot sites were involved in the study. After training, therapists developed scales which they felt reflected the domains as indicated by the World Health Organization (WHO)/Enderby approach. Over a 3‐month period therapists collected data on patients for the pilot study. Nine hundred and ninety results were collected during this period. The results show noticeable differences in the impact of speech and language therapy according to the client group. Some client groups show the greatest impact on the area of impairment, whereas others show greater impact in the domains of disability and handicap. The changes were in accordance with what was expected by experts and showed some agreement between districts. Purchasers were able to understand the nature of the speech and language therapists' work with different client groups. Whilst this method appears to be able to reflect the different emphasis for speech and language therapy in an appropriate fashion, there are concerns about its sensitivity. The pilot study was flawed in some respects, being held over a short period of time, during the summer holidays, and asking therapists to judge the start score on reflection. Further studies are necessary so that outcome measures can be made over a more protracted period of time and the base course can reflect the therapist's opinions at the beginning of treatment. Purchasers have a tendency to make decisions on data rather than information. Outcome measurement can only provide data and this, on its own, can be misinforming.