User involvement in measuring service quality of local authority occupational therapy services; a new approach

The aim of this paper is two‐fold: (i) to describe the development of a new measuring instrument for quality of care from the perspective of the users of local authority Occupational Therapy (OT) services, and (ii) to evaluate the potential of the new instrument as a standardized approach for involving consumers in the service evaluation of home health care services. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used. Focus group discussions with users of local authority OT‐services preceded a postal survey. Questionnaires were sent to a random sample of 997 users of the local authority OT Bureau in Kent, UK. The response rate was 55%. A valid and reliable instrument – the QUOTE‐OT Services questionnaire – was developed, which reflects the (expressed) needs of the users of OT services. Feasibility tests showed that information from the instrument can play an important role in follow‐up activities that aim at continuous quality improvement. The QUOTE‐OT Services instrument can be seen as an example of a new generation of questionnaires for assessing user views in quality of care research. Potentially, instruments such as the QUOTE‐OT questionnaire contribute to the empowerment of users in programmes that aim at improving the quality of home health care services.