文章基本信息

标题：Measuring Staff Empowerment Regarding Health Care for Clients with Intellectual Disabilities
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作者：Joanne Wilkinson ; Nechama W. Greenwood ; Claire Tienwey Wang 等
期刊名称：International Journal of Family Medicine
印刷版ISSN：2090-2042
电子版ISSN：2090-2050
出版年度：2014
卷号：2014
DOI：10.1155/2014/678127
出版社：Hindawi Publishing Corporation
摘要：Background. Women with intellectual disabilities (ID) contract breast cancer at the same rate as the general population but have higher breast cancer mortality and lower rates of breast cancer screening. Many women with ID live in group homes or supported residences where they are cared for by direct support workers. While direct support workers are thought to influence client health, this effect is underresearched, and we lack tools for measuring staff empowerment and perceptions regarding client health. Methods. We developed and validated an instrument, the staff empowerment tool (SET), to measure staff empowerment as related to supporting clients in preventive health. Results. The SET was found to be a reliable instrument for measuring staff activation and empowerment in helping clients access mammography screening. Discussion. Quantifying staff empowerment and perspectives is important in studying and reducing disparities among adults with ID, a vulnerable population. Further research to determine the impact of staff empowerment levels on their clients’ health and health care access is suggested. The SET is a valuable tool for measuring the construct of staff empowerment, evaluating interventions, and collecting data regarding variation in staff empowerment.