Nazanin Heydarian1, Osvaldo Morera2, Scott Frankowski3. 1. University of Texas at Austin, USA. Electronic address: nmheydarian@austin.utexas.edu. 2. University of Texas at El Paso, USA. 3. Midwestern State University, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: People who are blind (PWB) are often perceived as being incompetent with common tasks and functions. When patients detect that their healthcare providers (HCPs) have negative perceptions of them, they often report less satisfaction with their healthcare and disengage in their own healthcare. OBJECTIVE: A scale assessing the experiences of PWB interacting with HCPs was developed and validated across two studies. METHODS: In Study 1, 144 participants completed the scale and provided feedback. In Study 2, 214 participants completed the scale and 4 additional scales to assess construct validity. RESULTS: An exploratory factor analysis in Study 1 revealed a two-factor model consisting of General Quality of Health Care (30.5% variance explained) and Stereotype Content-related items (9.4% variance explained). Study 2 confirmed and validated this two-factor structure (RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.068 (0.057, 0.079), CFI = 0.898, SRMR = 0.066, AIC = 14568.902). CONCLUSIONS: This scale is one of the first tools developed from the perspectives of PWB. Results from these studies highlight and elaborate on how PWB perceive that they are viewed by their HCPs in terms of competence and how they perceive to be treated by these HCPs. This scale can be used in training HCPs to better serve their patients with disabilities.
BACKGROUND:People who are blind (PWB) are often perceived as being incompetent with common tasks and functions. When patients detect that their healthcare providers (HCPs) have negative perceptions of them, they often report less satisfaction with their healthcare and disengage in their own healthcare. OBJECTIVE: A scale assessing the experiences of PWB interacting with HCPs was developed and validated across two studies. METHODS: In Study 1, 144 participants completed the scale and provided feedback. In Study 2, 214 participants completed the scale and 4 additional scales to assess construct validity. RESULTS: An exploratory factor analysis in Study 1 revealed a two-factor model consisting of General Quality of Health Care (30.5% variance explained) and Stereotype Content-related items (9.4% variance explained). Study 2 confirmed and validated this two-factor structure (RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.068 (0.057, 0.079), CFI = 0.898, SRMR = 0.066, AIC = 14568.902). CONCLUSIONS: This scale is one of the first tools developed from the perspectives of PWB. Results from these studies highlight and elaborate on how PWB perceive that they are viewed by their HCPs in terms of competence and how they perceive to be treated by these HCPs. This scale can be used in training HCPs to better serve their patients with disabilities.
Authors: Susan E Puumala; Katherine M Burgess; Anupam B Kharbanda; Heather G Zook; Dorothy M Castille; Wyatt J Pickner; Nathaniel R Payne Journal: Med Care Date: 2016-06 Impact factor: 2.983