Reliability and Validity of a Person-centered Care Staff Survey in Veterans Health Administration Community Living Centers

Purpose: The objective of this study was to test and revise a staff assessment of person-centered care (PCC) within the Veterans Health Administration (VA) Community Living Center (CLC) setting.

Design And Methods: Starting with measures of PCC initially developed through the Better Jobs Better Care (BJBC) study, we conducted cognitive interviews with CLC staff to assess applicability to the VA setting. We then (a) modified the questionnaire based on respondent feedback, (b) administered the revised survey via Internet to 265 staff at 8 VA CLCs, and (c) examined the psychometric properties of the revised 50-item BJBC PCC instrument using multitrait analysis.

Results: Scale reliabilities met the criterion for group comparisons (alpha levels ranged from 0.84 to 0.91). The pattern of item correlations and intra- and interscale correlations indicating convergent and discriminant validity, respectively, were both 100%.

Implications: Our results support the broader use of the BJBC survey within VA. In addition, given the high levels of internal consistency reliability of the current scales, it is likely that a psychometrically sound short form of the instrument could be created. Further research on construct and convergent validity are warranted to support the broader application of the instrument.