A study by Roberts et al. in the article A survey evaluating patients’ satisfaction with the social work service provided at a rehabilitation centre talks about social workers and the importance of researching the level of patient satisfaction with the service provided. The authors provide many high-quality recommendations and the study includes more than 70 patients. However, at the same time, the study is not comprehensive or applicable to real-life practice, as there are many limitations and only one clinic is involved.
There is a lack of information on data analysis in the study. While data collection is described in detail, there is only one paragraph devoted to analysis. At the same time, from a statistical point of view, the SPSS program implies much more functionality than the Binomial and Chi-square tests given in the article (Roberts et al., 2012). In addition, the description of the analysis does not provide information on how the demographic analysis of the study participants was carried out, although demographic indicators such as gender, age and diagnosis of the participants are provided hereinafter.
Part of the discussion compares this study with others that have investigated patient satisfaction with social work. Satisfaction indicators are compared, although it is obvious that the clinics participating in the studies differ in each case, and, accordingly, the level and quality of service are likely to differ. Thus, the question is raised about the relevance of comparison in detail of indicators from different studies.
The limitation in the study was the exclusion of patients for lack of understanding of the English language. Patients in rehabilitation centers come from completely different backgrounds, therefore, for complete objectivity, the study must be adapted to different categories of patients, while there are many exceptions in this. Moreover, the study was conducted in only one clinic, and as the author notes in a discussion of how the social work system can be improved, the study data may not be applicable to other healthcare settings (Roberts et al., 2012). Therefore, the authors might consider involving patients from multiple clinics for the higher sample variation to increase the objectivity and breadth of the results. This would make it possible to use such a study on the basis of several hospitals at once, and provide recommendations that will be beneficial not only for one, but for several of them.
The study uses an effective method of collecting data through questionnaires, which are distributed, among others, by social workers, which increases the likelihood of an answer. At the same time, the planned number of participants was 84, while in reality it turned out to be 73 (Roberts et al., 2012). At the beginning of the study, the authors say that in case of insufficient response to the questionnaires, the study can be continued for a longer period. However, in this case, there was a significant shortage of participants, but the study was not extended.
The authors provide several effective comments, such as tracking patient satisfaction through the brochures. However, at the same time, some of the criteria that are used by the authors of the article are based only on a single answer from the individual patient. Such responses include that patients should be more involved in the decision-making process in the clinic and are interested in more interaction with each other.
In conclusion, the authors of the article conducted qualitative and quantitative research and descriptive analysis regarding patient satisfaction with social work. The study could be more comprehensive if patients from more clinics were included and the number of limitations was reduced. Otherwise, the study by Roberts et al. in the article A survey evaluating patients’ satisfaction with the social work service provided at a rehabilitation centre is a correct representation of the situation in a single clinic.
Reference
Roberts, K., Stiller, K., & Dichiera, B. (2012). A survey evaluating patients’ satisfaction with the social work service provided at a rehabilitation centre. Australian Social Work, 65(1), 145-155. Web.