Measuring the Quality of Early Intervention Services for Infants and Toddlers: Problems and prospects

Abstract

Comparable scales to measure quality of early intervention services for infants and toddlers as perceived by parents and service providers were developed based on the Recommended Practices in Early Intervention. Each scale consisted of four subscales focusing on: home-based therapies/instruction, centre-based therapies/instruction, medical/ health services, and service coordination. The scales were administered to 209 parents and 177 of their service providers. A sample of 24 parents completed the instrument twice during a two-week interval to assess test-retest reliability of the parent scale. Test-retest reliability for the parent scale was .785. Validity of the scale was assessed by examining the correlation of parent and provider perceptions of quality with family demographic and early intervention service characteristics. Parents' perceptions of quality were related to family centredness of services. Neither parents' nor providers' perceptions of quality were related to family socioeconomic status. Problems and prospects for measuring quality of early intervention services are discussed.

The paradox of early intervention: families’ participation driven by professionals throughout service process

“…As Nora recalled, the meeting process was simply documenting than discussing with families' needs and concerns. The interaction between the two parties did not present the qualities the families had expected, thus, a lack of the qualities mentioned in previous studies persisted (see also Dinnebeil et al 1999;James and Chard, 2010;Kontos and Diamond, 2002;Mahoney and Filer, 1996;McNaughton, 1994;McWilliam et al, 1995;Summers et al, 1990;Wehman and Gilkerson, 1999;Zhang et al 1999;Ziviani et al 2011).…”

“…Regardless of researchers' attempts to render a perfect vision of family participation (Dinnebeil et al 1999;Kontos and Diamond, 2002;Mahoney and Filer, 1996;McNaughton, 1994;McWilliam et al, 1995;Summers et al, 1990;Summers et al, 2005;Wehman and Gilkerson, 1999;Zhang et al 1999), the literature attests that there has been limited progress delivering this notion in practice. Early intervention in the United States is overly controlled by federal legislation and its requirements.…”

“…Finally, Summers et al (2005) defined 'family-professional partnerships as mutually supportive interactions between families and professionals, which focus on meeting the needs of children and families with competence, commitment, equality, positive communication, respect and trust [italics added]' (p. 49). Thus, the level of collaboration, partnership, and relationship is one mode used to show family participation in the field (see also Kontos and Diamond, 2002;Mahoney and Filer, 1996;McWilliam et al, 1995;Sontag and Schacht, 1994).…”

Calidad percibida en Centros de Atención Temprana de Andalucía. Estudio cualitativo

“…La mayoría de los estudios que han solicitado la participación de las familias para evaluar la calidad de los servicios lo han hecho desde una perspectiva cuantitativa (Aytch, Castro, Selz-Campbell y Laurie, 2004; Dyke, Buttigieg, Blackmore y Ghose, 2006;Kontos y Diamond, 2002;Epley, Summers y Turnbull, 2011; Romero-Galisteo, Gálvez-Ruiz, Belda-Oriola y Milla-Romero, 2015), siendo esta una de las escasas investigaciones cualitativas que analiza la calidad en at y concretamente en España.…”

فعالية برنامج تدريبي في خفض اضطراب النطق وأثره على السلوک الانسحابى لدى الأطفال ذوي الإعاقة الفکرية الخفيفة

“…) (Gray, 2005) ‫�راي‬ � � ‫ج‬ ‫�ة‬ � � ‫ودرا�ض‬ (Kontos & Diamond, 2002) (Fruehauf, 2003;Pelchat, et al, 2004…”