Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Phys Occup Ther Pediatr. 2010 Aug;30(3):248-58. doi: 10.3109/01942631003780869.
This descriptive study examined the readability levels of Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs). The readability of 85 de-identified IFSP documents developed by seven agencies that serve families and children enrolled in a county early intervention program was analyzed using Flesch Kincaid grade levels and Flesch reading ease scores. The average Flesch Kincaid grade level of the entire IFSP documents was 8.0, indicating that the text was written at the 8th grade reading level. The Flesch reading ease mean score for all of the IFSP documents was 58.6, indicating that the text was written at a moderate level of ease to read. The highest Flesch Kincaid grade level scores and lowest reading ease scores were found in sections that require descriptive documentation of IFSP activities and ideas, justification for services provided outside of the natural environment, the way in which outcomes would be met, and a description of the activities provided in the natural environment. The lowest Flesch Kincaid grade level and the highest reading ease level were found in the section involving gross motor development. There were no agencies that prepared IFSP documents at or below the recommended 5th grade reading level. The findings from this study indicated that on average the entire IFSP documents and most sections of the documents were written above a 5th grade reading level. Overall there were no agencies that wrote the IFSP documents at or below the recommended 5th grade reading level. Analysis of readability levels when preparing IFSP documents is recommended to optimize accessibility and usability.
本描述性研究考察了个别化家庭服务计划(IFSP)的可读性水平。使用 Flesch-Kincaid 年级水平和 Flesch 阅读舒适度得分,分析了 7 家为参加县早期干预计划的家庭和儿童服务的机构制定的 85 份经身份识别的 IFSP 文档。整个 IFSP 文档的平均 Flesch-Kincaid 年级水平为 8.0,表明文本是按照 8 年级的阅读水平编写的。所有 IFSP 文档的 Flesch 阅读舒适度平均得分为 58.6,表明文本编写的阅读舒适度适中。IFSP 活动和想法的描述性文档、在自然环境之外提供服务的理由、实现成果的方式以及自然环境中提供的活动描述等需要详细记录的部分,其 Flesch-Kincaid 年级水平得分最高,阅读舒适度得分最低。涉及大运动发育的部分则具有最低的 Flesch-Kincaid 年级水平和最高的阅读舒适度得分。没有任何一个机构的 IFSP 文档编写水平达到或低于建议的 5 年级阅读水平。本研究结果表明,平均而言,整个 IFSP 文档和大多数文档部分的编写水平都高于 5 年级阅读水平。总体而言,没有任何一个机构的 IFSP 文档编写水平达到或低于建议的 5 年级阅读水平。在编写 IFSP 文档时,建议进行可读性水平分析,以优化可访问性和可用性。