Validation of a modified VOICES survey to measure end-of-life care quality: the CaregiverVoice survey
Open Access
- 30 August 2017
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in BMC Palliative Care
- Vol. 16 (1), 1-8
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-017-0227-7
Abstract
Measuring the care experience at end-of-life (EOL) to inform quality improvement is a priority in many countries. We validated the CaregiverVoice survey, a modified version of the VOICES questionnaire, completed by bereaved caregivers to capture perceptions of care received in the last three months of a patient’s life. We conducted a retrospective survey of bereaved caregivers representing palliative care patients who died in a residential hospice and/or received palliative homecare in Ontario, Canada. Statistical analyses were completed to establish construct and concurrent validity, as well as reliability of the survey. Responses were obtained from 906 caregivers: 330 surveyed from homecare agencies and 576 from hospices. The CaregiverVoice survey demonstrated concurrent validity in scores correlating to FAMCARE2 items, and construct validity in performing according to expected patterns, e.g., correlation of scores to qualitative perceptions and significant variability based on care contexts such as place of death and setting of care (p < 0.01). Reliability was exhibited in good inter-item correlation of ratings for specific care settings and no significant differences in ratings regardless of whether up to a year had passed since death of patient. The CaregiverVoice survey demonstrated validity and reliability in the populations assessed. This survey represents one common measure that can be standardized across multiple care settings and is useful for assessing the care experience that can help inform local and national quality improvement activities.Funding Information
- Cancer Care Ontario (CA)
- Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care
This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit:
- Factors associated with not receiving homecare, end-of-life homecare, or early homecare referral among cancer decedents: A population-based cohort studyHealth Policy, 2015
- Palliative care development in the Asia-Pacific region: an international survey from the Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network (APHN)BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2014
- Quality Measures for Palliative Care in Patients With Cancer: A Systematic ReviewJournal of Oncology Practice, 2014
- End-of-life care and achieving preferences for place of death in England: Results of a population-based survey using the VOICES-SF questionnairePalliative Medicine, 2013
- Quality Indicators for Palliative Care: Update of a Systematic ReviewJournal of Pain and Symptom Management, 2013
- Heterogeneity and changes in preferences for dying at home: a systematic reviewBMC Palliative Care, 2013
- Home care in Europe: a systematic literature reviewBMC Health Services Research, 2011
- Patient‐reported outcome measures suitable to assessment of patient navigationCancer, 2011
- Reliability testing of the FAMCARE-2 scale: measuring family carer satisfaction with palliative carePalliative Medicine, 2010
- A comparison of the quality of care provided to cancer patients in the UK in the last three months of life in in-patient hospices compared with hospitals, from the perspective of bereaved relatives: results from a survey using the VOICES questionnairePalliative Medicine, 2009