Graph 5. TEI-SF

“Υes we are really satisfied (with the overall care at Reach). If we had to rate you from zero to ten, then we give you ten” (Parent A)

“We are really happy. And everybody who asked us what is the best place, I said REACH is the best place.” (Parent B)

Satisfaction with specific aspects of care

            It is noteworthy that all participants highlighted specific aspects of the care which they appreciate. The main ones were kindness, respect, professionalism, acceptance, inclusion, and flexibility. Some direct quotations:

“[the therapists are] very good and just simply human and kind, which is important for our kids and for parents as well. We feel that people here are kind and human to our kids” (Parent C)

“[during the initial appointment] we asked when do you need to meet our child to understand if can she join or not. And they just said: we have space, we’re ready to help. This was a relief” (Parent C)

Reports about child’s well-being

 All (n=4) interviewees clearly expressed that their child is happy to be at Reach.

“…and now he is really happy. And he is a different child. He used to cry every day before he went to a different center. And he didn’t want to go. Now he’s really happy to go and he’s smiling” (Parent A)

“And it’s obvious, my child is very happy at Reach. I can see that, and I can see it in the other kids that are there also that they’re very happy.” (Parent C)

Communication with staff

The next thematic axis concerns the impressions of the parents regarding the communication with Reach’s staff.

Frequent and consistent communication

All four parents (n=4) mentioned that they are very happy and appreciative of the updates that they receive from the therapists after each session their child has. These updates are provided through the Microsoft Teams platform in the form of a short paragraph. One of the interviewees also highlighted the importance of the pictures that most of the time are also attached as part of the update. Below are presented some relevant quotations:

“…and also [we like] the fact that we get the updates mostly two or sometimes three times per day. They show us what our child is doing, how he is developing, and that for us, is important” (Parent B)

All four interviewees (n=4) also mentioned that frequent communication between the therapists and family allows them to feel more equipped about how to assist their children at home.

One parent, mentioned, as a suggestion for improvement, that during the first month when a client starts coming to Reach, more updates could be given in person.

Ease to ask questions.

All four parents (n=4)  feel comfortable asking questions and raising potential concerns to the supervisor or therapists of their child.

“…they are always available for questions. If I have questions I feel that I can ask any time” (Parent C)

“I mean, if I have a question I know that I can either reach out to the supervisor or somebody else from the team. […] I’ve never felt like I couldn’t raise an issue” (Parent D)

Satisfaction with treatment

In the following section the results that emerged from the thematic analysis regarding the satisfaction with treatment, categorized as satisfaction with interventions, involvement in treatment plan and perception of child’s progress will be reported.

Satisfaction with interventions

All four participants (n=4) mentioned that they feel comfortable and are satisfied with the treatment and interventions used at Reach.

“We have decided that ABA is the best option, and that REACH is the best option” (Parent A)

 In addition to that, two parents (n=2) also describe that they value the fact that Reach offers evidence-based treatment.

It is important to highlight that, when asked to elaborate on any concerns they had while receiving services from Reach, all four parents (n=4) mentioned that they never had noteworthy concerns regarding their child’s care.

“Thankfully I haven’t had that, I haven’t had any issues” (Parent D)

Involvement in the treatment plan

All participants highlighted that they feel well-informed and involved in the creation of their child’s treatment plan and learning goals.

“We are very involved. Usually, we openly discuss with the supervisor during the meeting. One time we gave some insights from our experience at home to the supervisor and she was very open to adapting some goals according to that” (Parent C)

Child’s progress

In addition to feeling comfortable with the treatment and goals, their children have at Reach, all four (n=4) parents mentioned that they have witnessed progress in their kids and believe they have learned a lot while at Reach.

“I have the feeling that he is a different child. He has developed amazingly in this time at Reach.” (Parent A)

Suggestions for improvement

The interviewees also shared certain suggestions they had regarding how Reach could maximize the services. The suggestions, as organized through the thematic analysis are the following: one parent talked about their wish for Reach, after the termination of services, to be more involved in the transition to a new facility, for example by recommending institutions that also offer high-quality care. Another parent highlighted that, even though the space is comfortable and well-equipped, the interior space could be more organized. Lastly, two parents (n=2), when asked what are their suggestions for improvement, answered that there were not any.

4. Discussion

The aim of the current survey was to assess the satisfaction of parents with the services that their child receives at Reach. The survey consisted of two phases, a quantitative and a qualitative one. The results of both phases will be interpreted in this section.

For the first phase, 20 participants completed a questionnaire consisting of the Experience of Service Questionnaire and the Treatment Experience Inventory-Short Form. The ESQ assesses parents’ experiences with mental health services, consisting of the sub-constructs of Satisfaction with Care and Satisfaction with the Environment. The TEI-SF assesses the Acceptability of Treatment. The second, qualitative phase consisted of interviews with 4 (n=4) parents. …

Starting with the ESQ, the means, almost perfect, overall score suggests a very high overall positive experience with the offered services. In addition to the overall score, the mean scores of the sub-scales also suggest very high satisfaction with the care provided as well as the environment. These findings are in agreement with the subsequent findings from the interviews, where all parents (n=4) mentioned that they are very satisfied with the overall care. Furthermore, 95% of the participants declared “certainly true” the statements regarding the communication between parents and therapists (It was easy to talk to the people who have seen my child, I was treated well by the people who have seen my child, My views and worries were taken seriously). The findings of the interviews regarding communication are coherent with this, as all (n=4) parents described that they feel free to ask questions and feel involved in the care.

The TEI-SF questionnaire measures the acceptability of treatment, with the maximum possible score being 45 and the score for moderate acceptability being 27. The means score of our participants 41, suggests a very high acceptability of treatment. More specifically, 80% of the participants strongly agree and 20% agree that the treatment is acceptable, which is in agreement with the findings of the interviews, where all parents mentioned that they are happy with the interventions used. Moreover, none (n=0) of the participants agreed or highly agreed with the statement that the child might experience discomfort because of the treatment. This is in accordance with the findings of the thematic analysis, according to which none of the four interviewed parents has had any noteworthy concerns regarding the intervention.

5. Conclusion

To sum up, the current survey used a mixed-methods sequential exploratory design in order to investigate the satisfaction of the parents whose children receive services at Stichting Reach. The findings of the current survey indicate very high rates of satisfaction with the overall care provided at Reach as well as very high treatment acceptability. 

References

Brown, A., Ford, T., Deighton, J. & Wolpert, W. (2014) Satisfaction in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research. 41 (4), pp. 436-446

Newton, J. T., & Sturmey, P. (2004). Development of a short form of the Treatment Evaluation Inventory for acceptability of psychological interventions. Psychological Reports, 94(2), 475–481. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.94.2.475-481

Willig, C. (2015). Qualitative Research in Psychology. Athens: Gutenberg.