FACULTY OF HEALTH AND WELLBEING

MSc Applying Physiotherapy

MEASURING HEALTH OUTCOMES

SUMMATIVE ASSIGNMENT


Scenario and Essay Plan for MHO summative

21
st
December, 2011
Word count = 2662

INTRODUCTION
"The physiotherapy department of the RR Hospital is a state owned public facility.
The physiotherapy department of the RR however with its second grade resources
has caseloads similar to those of a teaching hospital because of its situation. It is
located in the city centre therefore very accessible by all modes of transportation
making it a preferred destination for patients who have been referred by their doctors
for physiotherapy. "

RATIONALE FOR CHANGE (450 words)
Explanation of current practice (200 words)
1. what a typical assessment includes
2. there is no routine measurement
3. how we determine that a patient is ready for discharge
4. who funds the healthcare system and therefore who are the main
stakeholders
Relevance of disability in low back pain (250 words)
1. "managed" rather than cured (references required)
2. importance of improving holistic approach (references required)
3. improving patient motivation (references required)

ANALYSIS OF OPTIONS (350 words)
Aims of measurement
Primary aim is evaluation and main stakeholder is individual patient
Secondary aim is improving holistic practice
Requirements for the measure
Language and simplicity required
Psychometric properties (references required)
Time available and attitudes of therapists and other staff
Flow chart showing selection process and summary of its content.

A REVIEW OFTHE PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE ROLAND-MORRIS
DISABILITY QUESTIONNAIRE (RMDQ) (1500 words) (references required for
every section)
Development
Validity
o Content validity - how the studies were performed and critique of those
studies
o Construct validity - how closely the RMDQ should be correlated with
other measures if it is valid - and how closely it is correlated.
Reliability - how the studies are performed and critique of those studies
Responsiveness -
o why responsiveness is very important for this scenario. Critical
summaries of the responsiveness studies
o Table showing responsiveness findings across a range of different
studies
o Summary of responsiveness review showing that there is probably a
difference for acute and chronic patients
Summary of psychometric properties and confirmation of this measure's
suitability compared to other measures (150 words)

IMPLEMENTATION (450 words)

Introduction relating need for change to recommending practice in introducing
change (references required)
Key cultural factors impacting upon difficulty introducing the concept of
evaluation of practice
o to patients
o to staff
Key workplace barriers preventing implementation
Figure showing balance of factors impacting upon change
Plan for implementation with timescales and review activities
How data will be analysed at the review stages
o Using MCIC to determine numbers of patients who improve
o Difficulties with comparing after-treatment scores to pre-treatment
scores
o The role of statistical analysis in reviewing recovery in the chronic
patients - the actual test to be used and the critique of the importance
of this test.
REFERENCE LIST
(This essay had 32 references in the reference list - a good number for this topic).