East Herts CAMHS Choice Questionnaire
Audit of 100 families (Kingsbury and York, 2006)
In 2005 East Herts CAMHS (where Steve works) implemented CAPA. An assistant psychologist tracked the first 100 families for their experiences using the CHI- Experience of Service Questionnaire (ESQ) and a specially designed CAPA Experience Questionnaire.
Overall, we found that people and families felt listened to and helped and that clinicians were aware of the different stance they were taking in offering informed choice. The fact that the Choice appointment was a one-off made adolescents and parents feel more open.
The table below gives the results of the CAPA Experience Questionnaire completed by teenagers and their parents.
Interestingly, the vast majority felt that knowing that the Choice appointment was a one-off made them more open, especially teenagers. However, parents found it more useful than their adolescents. Both felt very involved in agreeing the outcome and understood the nature of the services offered to them. Given that previous published research (see for example, Attride-Stirling, 2004) has found that families often have little idea about the nature of services offered this seems a good result. Finally, both nearly 70% of parents and teenagers felt they had gained new ideas about the problem and what might help at home.
| Experience of Choice questionnaire | Parent % | Teenager % |
| The first appointment was a one off - did this make you feel more open (compared to more cautious) | 89 | 93 |
| Did you feel your concerns were listened to? | 100 | 100 |
| Was todays session helpful? | 74 | 46 |
| Did you feel involved in agreeing what would happen after todays session? | 100 | 93 |
| Did you understand the nature of what was eing offered to you? | 96 | 100 |
| Did the session today help you gain new ideas about what might be helpful? | 79 | 69 |
| Do you have clear ideas now about what might help at home | 79 | 69 |