Perceptions of Stuttering Intervention Services Received at Portland State

As consumers become more knowledgeable and more demanding of accountability, health care workers, including speech-language pathologists, are being required to justify the effectiveness of their work by documenting the results of their treatment programs. There are different ways to measure treatment outcomes. Outcomes may be measured qualitatively and/or quantitatively. Qualitative or subjective outcomes are difficult to define and measure and few studies of this type have been reported in the literature. Because few studies have been reported in the literature regarding client satisfaction, this area was investigated in this research project. The focus of this project was to ascertain whether previous clients believed they benefitted from stuttering intervention services received at the Portland State University (PSU) Speech and Hearing Clinic. The subjects surveyed were previous adult clients and parents of previous child clients. The parents responded as if they were the children who had received the service. The project also examined the subjects\u27 attitudes regarding the clinical atmosphere and staff. Data analysis revealed that for the adult subjects who returned their questionnaires, 79% of their responses were positive, whereas 3% were negative, 14% were neutral, and 4% were not applicable. Of the parent questionnaires that were returned, 84% of their answers were positive, whereas 3 % were negative, 11 % were neutral, and 2% were not applicable. From a review of these figures, one could conclude that adults who attended the PSU Stuttering Disorders Clinic and parents who had children who participated in the PSU Stuttering Disorders Clinic believe that they or their children benefitted and that they had a positive attitude about the clinical atmosphere and staff. However, without negating the successful ratings given to the PSU Clinic, there were concerns noted regarding the reliability of these figures. These concerns included the response rate, potentially influenced responses, and the questionnaire design