The needs assessment checklist: a clinical approach to measuring outcome.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the outcome of the Needs Assessment and Goal Planning Programme used in the rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injuries. The Needs Assessment Programme incorporates a behavioural indicator rating scale to detail the individual's progress and rehabilitation needs. This can also be used to evaluate the outcome of the rehabilitation programme in general. The Needs Assessment Checklist (NAC) forms part of the programme and is a tool which is used to evaluate rehabilitation outcome.
SETTING: A purpose built, national spinal injuries centre in the United Kingdom.
SUBJECTS: 82 patients who had completed the Needs Assessment Checklist, both at the beginning and towards the end of the rehabilitative process.
RESULTS: Independence, as measured by the Checklist, was significantly greater in all domains at the time of the second Needs Assessment.
CONCLUSIONS: The Needs Assessment and Goal Planning Programme is successful in establishing greater client independence, whether assessed at a verbal or physical level. Team members have used the Needs Assessment Checklist as a behavioural indicator of rehabilitation outcome based on available standards of rehabilitative care. Further development of the Needs Assessment Checklist now needs to focus on establishing concurrent validity and test/retest reliability. The measure developed proved to be a useful, clinically relevant and patient friendly assessment of rehabilitation outcome.