Family-centredness of a provincial autism programme: A quality assurance evaluation using the Measure of Processes of Care.

BACKGROUND

University researchers worked with 13 children's service provider agencies to conduct a programme evaluation of parents' perceptions of the family-centredness of service spanning 3 years (January 2015 to May 2018). Parents of Ontario children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) receiving applied behaviour analysis (ABA) programming reported outcomes of their experience of family-centred services (FCS) using the 20-item Measure of Processes of Care (MPOC-20). The purpose of this paper is to report the outcomes of the quality assurance evaluation of FCS as measured by MPOC-20 among parents of children with ASD receiving ABA services.

METHODS

A total of 11 490 surveys (from 21 571 potential respondents [53.3%]) were completed. Means and proportions were used to describe the demographics, service utilization and MPOC-20 scores with its 7-point Likert scales, ranging from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest).

RESULTS

The overall provincial MPOC scores were consistent over the 3 years, ranging from very good to excellent, with Respectful and Supportive Care (n = 11 348,  = 6.27, SD = 0.83) reporting the highest scale score and Providing General Information (n = 10 485,  = 5.51, SD = 1.43) the lowest.

CONCLUSION

Given the consistently high MPOC scores found in this and other programme evaluations, it is believed that health service providers have caught up to the FCS quality standards proposed 30 years ago. For this reason, the developers of MPOC are now planning a revision of the measure to address its ceiling effects and to integrate contemporary perspectives on family-centred practice for children and their families.