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Use of a Psychometric Instrument as a Referral Process for the Required Level of Specialization of Health and Social Services
Author(s) -
Tremblay Audrée,
Morin Diane
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of policy and practice in intellectual disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1741-1130
pISSN - 1741-1122
DOI - 10.1111/jppi.12096
Subject(s) - referral , scale (ratio) , psychology , gerontology , primary care , factoring , short forms , medicine , family medicine , clinical psychology , accounting , business , physics , quantum mechanics
In Q uébec, services of people with intellectual disability ( ID ) are divided into three levels of care based on the W orld H ealth O rganization model. Currently, no standardized tool is used to assess the level of specialization of care required by persons with ID in the province despite the M inistry of S ocial and H ealth S ervices' reference framework, which stipulates that services should be fair and easily accessible to all. The present study examined potential tools to address this situation. The scores on the S upports I ntensity S cale‐ F rench version ( SIS‐F ), A daptive B ehavior A ssessment S ystem‐ II , and S cales of I ndependent B ehavior‐ R evised ( SIB‐R ) (Part 2) of 30 participants with ID were examined in conjunction with the required level of specialization of services, as determined by an expert committee. Scores on these scales were not linearly related to the required level of care. This indicates that scores cannot be used to determine if a person needs services from the primary, secondary, or tertiary care facility. However, significant differences were observed between the primary and tertiary levels on the E xceptional B ehavioral S upport N eeds scale of the SIS‐F and the SIB‐R Part 2. The study shows that the expert committee was more successful in making this determination than a standardized instrument. The instruments used in the present study, not designed for this purpose, were insufficient. Nonetheless, results underline the importance of factoring in challenging behaviors in the assessment of service needs.