Measuring parents’ perspective on continuity of care in children with special health care needs

Introduction: Children with special health care needs are an exponentially growing population needing integrated health care programmes that involve primary, community, hospital and tertiary care services. The aims of the study are (1) to develop and validate the Special Needs Kids Questionnaire (Sp...

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Main Authors: Rucci, P., Latour, Jos, Zanello, E., Calugi, S., Vandini, S., Faldella, G., Fantini, M.
Format: Journal Article
Published: International Foundation of Integrated Care 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30319
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author Rucci, P.
Latour, Jos
Zanello, E.
Calugi, S.
Vandini, S.
Faldella, G.
Fantini, M.
author_facet Rucci, P.
Latour, Jos
Zanello, E.
Calugi, S.
Vandini, S.
Faldella, G.
Fantini, M.
author_sort Rucci, P.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Introduction: Children with special health care needs are an exponentially growing population needing integrated health care programmes that involve primary, community, hospital and tertiary care services. The aims of the study are (1) to develop and validate the Special Needs Kids Questionnaire (SpeNK-Q) designed to measure parents’ perspective on continuity of care for children with special health care needs and (2) to evaluate the continuity of care based on parental experiences in this population. Methods: SpeNK-Q was derived from a previous qualitative study and was based on Haggerty’s constructs of informational, management and relational continuity. Parents of preterm birth children completed the 20-item SpeNK-Q at the second or subsequent planned follow-up visit after the child’s hospital discharge. Principal component analysis was used to examine the structure of the instrument. Results: Principal component analysis of 101 questionnaires administered allowed us to identify five factors explaining 60.2% of item variance: informational continuity; coordination of care; continuity of family–paediatrician relationship; family support; information on care plan. Conclusions and discussion: SpeNK-Q proved to be a psychometrically promising instrument. Its utilisation could improve the identification of areas for service development, the delivery of coordinated care and support policy makers in redesigning integrated services.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-303192017-09-13T15:32:01Z Measuring parents’ perspective on continuity of care in children with special health care needs Rucci, P. Latour, Jos Zanello, E. Calugi, S. Vandini, S. Faldella, G. Fantini, M. Introduction: Children with special health care needs are an exponentially growing population needing integrated health care programmes that involve primary, community, hospital and tertiary care services. The aims of the study are (1) to develop and validate the Special Needs Kids Questionnaire (SpeNK-Q) designed to measure parents’ perspective on continuity of care for children with special health care needs and (2) to evaluate the continuity of care based on parental experiences in this population. Methods: SpeNK-Q was derived from a previous qualitative study and was based on Haggerty’s constructs of informational, management and relational continuity. Parents of preterm birth children completed the 20-item SpeNK-Q at the second or subsequent planned follow-up visit after the child’s hospital discharge. Principal component analysis was used to examine the structure of the instrument. Results: Principal component analysis of 101 questionnaires administered allowed us to identify five factors explaining 60.2% of item variance: informational continuity; coordination of care; continuity of family–paediatrician relationship; family support; information on care plan. Conclusions and discussion: SpeNK-Q proved to be a psychometrically promising instrument. Its utilisation could improve the identification of areas for service development, the delivery of coordinated care and support policy makers in redesigning integrated services. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30319 10.5334/ijic.2202 International Foundation of Integrated Care fulltext
spellingShingle Rucci, P.
Latour, Jos
Zanello, E.
Calugi, S.
Vandini, S.
Faldella, G.
Fantini, M.
Measuring parents’ perspective on continuity of care in children with special health care needs
title Measuring parents’ perspective on continuity of care in children with special health care needs
title_full Measuring parents’ perspective on continuity of care in children with special health care needs
title_fullStr Measuring parents’ perspective on continuity of care in children with special health care needs
title_full_unstemmed Measuring parents’ perspective on continuity of care in children with special health care needs
title_short Measuring parents’ perspective on continuity of care in children with special health care needs
title_sort measuring parents’ perspective on continuity of care in children with special health care needs
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30319