Measuring parents'satisfaction with pediatric in -hospital care

ABSTRACT

Measurement of parent satisfaction has the potential to be an important component in evaluating service adequacy because parents usually are [a] responsible for obtaining health services for their children, [b] key to the success of treatment through their participation, [c] the best source of information about the effects of caring for a child with health problems, and [d] the primary caregivers after service completion. Research consistently shown that the most important factor contributing to satisfaction in the healthcare context has been interpersonal relationship between staff and consumers. Technical aspects of care, although an important determinant of clinical outcomes, have not been found to account for significant variance in consumer satisfaction. Focusing on interpersonal interactions of staff, therefore, served as the common denominator when developing items for the parent satisfaction questionnaire described in this thesis. So, the purpose of that study is twofold. First, to attempt to develop an Arabic language questionnaire for assessing parent satisfaction with inpatient care in pediatric hospitals, taking into account that item pool selection should incorporate the importance of the communication skills of the physicians. Second, to elicit parents' assessments of care in the particular setting of Children's hospital and possibly identify the contributing factors to their dissatisfaction