Consumer views on a new holistic screening tool for supportive and palliative care needs: Sheffield Profile for Assessment and Referral for Care (SPARC): A survey of self-help support groups in health care

HUGHES, Philippa, AHMED, Nisar, WINSLOW, Michella, WALTER, Stephen J., COLLINS, Karen and NOBLE, Bill (2015). Consumer views on a new holistic screening tool for supportive and palliative care needs: Sheffield Profile for Assessment and Referral for Care (SPARC): A survey of self-help support groups in health care. Health Expectations, 18 (4), 562-577.

Full text not available from this repository.
Official URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23414548
Link to published version:: https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.12058

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Sheffield Profile for Assessment and Referral for Care (SPARC) was developed in response to concerns that palliative care may not be reaching all people who could benefit from it. Acceptability of the tool is an important step in developing its future use.

AIMS: To elicit the views of a wide variety of members of consumer and self-help support groups concerned with health care on the relevance, acceptability and the overall perception of using SPARC as an early holistic needs assessment tool in supportive and palliative care.

METHODS: This study was conducted in South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire (UK). Ninety-nine consumer and self-help groups were identified from information in the public domain. Thirty-eight groups participated. Packs containing study information and self-complete postal questionnaires were distributed to groups, and they were asked to circulate these to their members. Completed questionnaires were returned in pre-paid envelopes to the research team.

RESULTS: 135 questionnaires and feedback forms were returned. The majority of respondents found SPARC easy to understand (93% (120/129; 95% Confidence Interval 87% to 96%) and complete (94% (125/133; 95% CI: 88% to 97%). A minority, 12.2% (16/131), of respondents found questions on SPARC 'too sensitive'.

CONCLUSIONS: Overall, respondents considered SPARC an acceptable and relevant tool for clinical assessment of supportive and palliative-care needs. Whilst a small minority of people found SPARC difficult to understand (i.e. patients with cognitive impairments), most categories of service user found it relevant. Clinical studies are necessary to establish the clinical utility of SPARC.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Article first published online: 18 FEB 2013
Research Institute, Centre or Group - Does NOT include content added after October 2018: Centre for Health and Social Care Research
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.12058
Page Range: 562-577
Depositing User: Karen Collins
Date Deposited: 21 Mar 2013 14:00
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2021 20:45
URI: https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/3696

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