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01-08-2011 | Original Paper

Evaluation of Client Services (ECS): A Measure of Treatment Satisfaction for People with Chronic Mental Illnesses

Authors: Gerlinde Berghofer, Dorothy M. Castille, Bruce Link

Published in: Community Mental Health Journal | Issue 4/2011

Abstract

This article describes the development and psychometric assessment of the Evaluation of Client Services (ECS) measure of treatment satisfaction for people with chronic mental illnesses in community treatment settings. The ECS, a 20-item instrument, was validated in a sample of 184 individuals receiving outpatient mental health treatment in New York City. The four dimensions of the ECS, (1) treatment management and treatment outcome, (2) treatment relationship, (3) communication and information exchange, and (4) reachability of treatment facilities are internally consistent and stable over time. Analyses also show that the ECS is a valid indicator of satisfaction with mental health services which meaningfully correlates with quality of life and another measure of treatment satisfaction. The ECS is a brief and easy to understand treatment satisfaction tool with good psychometric properties.

The common terminology used for describing satisfaction of mental health care service recipients is patient satisfaction. However, this terminology is misleading. Most satisfaction tools do not measure unspecific or general satisfaction among patients but measure satisfaction of mental health users with specific aspects of mental health care delivery. In addition, the use of the term “patient” is controversial and has been substituted by such words as “client”, “consumer”, “service user”, and, recently, “psychiatric-survivor” (Sharma et al. 2000). We, therefore, refer to our satisfaction tool as a measure of treatment satisfaction addressing various aspects of outpatient mental health care and substitute the term “patient satisfaction” with “treatment satisfaction”.

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Title: Evaluation of Client Services (ECS): A Measure of Treatment Satisfaction for People with Chronic Mental Illnesses
Authors: Gerlinde Berghofer
Dorothy M. Castille
Bruce Link
Publication date: 01-08-2011
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Community Mental Health Journal / Issue 4/2011
Print ISSN: 0010-3853
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2789
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-010-9331-3

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Evaluation of Client Services (ECS): A Measure of Treatment Satisfaction for People with Chronic Mental Illnesses

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

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