Initial validation of a patient-reported measure of compassion: Determining the content validity and clinical sensibility among patients living with a life-limiting and incurable illness. Patient, [11].

Background and Objectives Our aim was to create a “storyline” that provides empirical explanation of stakeholders’ perspectives underlying the use of patient- and family-reported outcome and experience measures to inform continuity across transitions in care for frail older adults and their family caregivers living at home. Research Design and Methods We conducted a meta-narrative synthesis to explore stakeholder perspectives pertaining to use of patient-reported outcome and experience measures (PROMs and PREMs) across micro (patients, family caregivers, and healthcare providers), meso (organizational managers/executives/programs), and macro (decision-/policy-makers) levels in healthcare. Systematic searches identified 9,942 citations of which 40 were included based on full-text screening. Results PROMs and PREMS (54 PROMs; 4 PREMs; 1 with PROM and PREM elements; 6 unspecified PROMs) were rarely used to inform continuity across transitions of care and were typically used independently, rarely together (n = 3). Two overarching traditions motivated stakeholders’ use. The first significant motivation by diverse stakeholders to use PROMs and PREMs was the desire to restore/support independence and care at home, predominantly at a micro-level. The second motivation to using PROMs and PREMs was to evaluate health services, including cost-effectiveness of programs and hospital discharge (planning); this focus was rarely at a macro-level and more often split between micro- and meso-levels of healthcare. Discussion and Implications The motivations underlying stakeholders’ use of these tools were distinct, yet synergistic between the goals of person/family-centered care and healthcare system-level goals aimed at efficient use of health services. There is a missed opportunity here for PROMs and PREMs to be used together to inform continuity across transitions of care.

Background and PurposeAlthough various measure development guidelines exist, practical guidance on how to systematically generate items is nascent. This article provides practical guidance on item generation in measure development and the use of a Table of Specifications (TOS) in this process.MethodsIn addition to a review of the literature, the item generation process within an ongoing study to develop a valid and reliable patient-reported measure of compassion is provided.ResultsConsensus on an initial pool of 109 items and their response scale was achieved with the aid of a TOS.ConclusionsDynamic, experiential, and relational care constructs such as compassion lie at the heart of nursing. Practical guidance on item generation is needed to allow nurses to identify, measure, and improve compassion in research and practice.

Eric (2014) "Feasibility of using emergency department patient experience surveys as a proxy for equity of care," AbstractCollecting and examining equity data can help inform quality improvement initiatives but is a relatively new practice in health care. The overall goal of this study was to assess different methods a feasible starting point in measuring equity in an urban Emergency Department (ED) that serves a diverse patient population. Socio-demographic characteristics of patients visiting an ED were compared with tho responded to provincial patient experience surveys routinely administered by mail. Patient experience survey data were collected over an 11-week period in an urban ED using different survey administration methods (face vs. handout) among study participants from vulnerable populations (elderly, low income, homeless, and mental health or substance use issues). Patient populations receiving care in the ED were shown to be different from those who responded to routinely mailed patient experience surveys with elderly patients over income, mental health or substance use and homeless/unstable housing populations under responses. From a total of 111 study participants, the r for surveys that were handed out (p = 0.002), but no significant difference in the percentage of positive responses was evident. Delivering patient experience surveys immediately upon discharge is an effective way of capturing uni responses from patients in vulnerable populations, supporting a valuable means administration method poses important implications when used to inform quality improvement efforts and performance measurement.

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