PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Delphi”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 955 records · Page 53Linked to original sources

Promoting success for at-risk African-American youth: perceived barriers and resources in using community-based success criteria.

A Delphi technique was used to assess service provider and community consensus on program elements essential for promoting the success of at-risk African American youth. The respondent group consisted of 54 subjects representing three broad groups: service agencies, community leaders and members, and school system participants. The study identified barriers to the use of community-derived success constructs, opportunities for collaboration between community members and service agencies in the development of programs, and the feasibility of incorporating success constructs into program development and delivery. Although consensus was achieved on key issues, individual variations between counties point to the necessity of targeting intervention programs to the unique problems and expectations found in each community.

Adolescent↗

Identifying indicators of laboratory management performance: a multiple constituency approach.

The challenges for laboratory management posed by cost control, managed care, organizational restructuring, information networking and health system integration call for new measures to evaluate how effectively laboratories manage emerging performance expectations. This study identifies the Delphi panel method in achieving consensus on measures of effectiveness and considers a specific application, the identification of indicators of laboratory performance, from the perspective of key constituencies.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

The development of a discharge planning index for use in a pediatric acute burn unit.

The purpose of this study was to develop a discharge planning index for use in a pediatric acute burn unit. The study sample consisted of 59 health professionals from a pediatric burn hospital who had worked at least one year with children with acute burns and their families in discharge planning. With the use of the Delphi technique, a three-round survey was conducted. A Pediatric Acute Burn Discharge Planning Index that consists of 75 items was developed on the basis of the items that received a mean score of 5.0 or greater in the third survey. The data were further analyzed with Spearman's rank correlation coefficient to compare the top 23 rank-ordered items rated by the nursing department with those rated by the other departments surveyed. The rank-order correlation showed a positive correlation between the nursing department's and other departments' responses. These results indicate that all health team members agree on the importance of assessing the items listed on the derived index before discharging a pediatric patient with acute burns.

Abstracting and Indexing↗

Research priorities for burn nursing: report of the psychosocial issues group.

This study was designed to identify nursing research priorities in burn care. The Delphi technique of sequential questionnaires was used for data collection. Ninety-four participants completed four rounds of questionnaires. One hundred and one research questions were identified, and priorities were assigned according to their impact on patient welfare and on the profession of burn nursing. Twenty-two of these research questions concerned psychosocial issues. This group of questions was then analyzed for priority research issues. The top five ranked questions in the psychosocial issues group for impact on patient welfare concerned: (1) stress reduction techniques, (2) social reentry strategies, (3) management of psychosis and post-traumatic stress disorder, (4) strategies to assist patients with impaired communication capabilities, and (5) the role of recovered burn survivors in encouraging patient compliance with treatments. Similarly, the top five ranked questions for impact on the profession of burn nursing concerned: (1) stress reduction strategies, (2) coping techniques for burn survivors, (3) management of psychosis and post-traumatic stress disorder, (4) nursing's supportive role in regard to "do not resuscitate" orders, and (5) coping strategies to be used with patients who express a desire to die.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Research priorities for burn nursing: nursing recruitment, retention, and other administrative issues.

This Delphi study was designed to identify nursing research priorities. Ninety-four participants completed four rounds of questionnaires that contained 101 potential research questions. Twenty questions addressed nursing administrative issues. In this category, the highest priority for potential impact on patient welfare related to the cost-effectiveness of various infection control measures. Questions concerning recruitment, retention, staffing, and cost/quality issues had the highest priority for research that could have an impact on the profession of nursing.

Burns↗

Research priorities for burn nursing: report on physiologic issues.

This Delphi study was designed and conducted to identify the issues of greatest concern to care of patients with burns and to the profession of burn nursing, so that nursing research could be directed toward these ends. One hundred and one questions were prioritized by the 94 participants who completed the four sequential rounds of questionnaires. A total of 11 questions (10.9%), which addressed physiologic-based issues, were identified.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Use of pain assessment tools: is there a preference?

The burn nursing Delphi study identified pain management as the most important area of burn nursing research. The question, "What is the best method to measure the pain of the patient with burns?" ranked in the top 10% of the nursing research priorities and is the research question of this study. The most commonly used pain assessment tools were determined in a 1994 survey of burn centers. Of those that responded, 67% used the Visual Analog Scale and 43% used an adjective scale. Forty patients were enrolled in this prospective, multicenter study. Visual analog and color scales were used during a 3-day cycle and word and faces scales were used during another 3-day cycle. Pain levels were assessed twice each day, once during a quiet time and then again immediately after a painful activity. At the end of each 3-day cycle the patient was asked which tool he or she preferred. At the completion of the study period the patient was asked to select the overall most preferred tool for pain assessment. Although this study indicates that patients prefer the faces and color scales to the most commonly used visual analog and adjective scales, further research is needed to determine the potential impact of preferred tools on pain intervention. The results may also lead burn centers to re-evaluate current selection of pain assessment tools.

Adult↗

Identifying nursing research priorities in a newly merged healthcare system.

Merging of nursing services led to key opportunities to identify nursing research priorities in the authors' institution. The literature suggested that a Delphi study would best accomplish these goals. Using a 110-member panel, a study was begun that identified two final topics that were focused on nursing administration research. Collecting these data served many purposes, including increased organizational awareness about nursing research and development of a nursing research council to facilitate future activities.

Delivery of Health Care, Integrated↗

An index of accessibility for ambulatory health services.

This paper discusses an Index developed and used to measure accessibility to health services provided on an outpatient basis at the Kaiser Community Health Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio. The Index is based on four levels of urgency or severity of illness and on the waiting times to get entry into the system. The parameters of the Index, initially established by task force members, were tested on a sample basis against the judgments of Kaiser outpatient facility users and finally refined through the consensus-seeking Delphi technique using a panel representing Kaiser members, gatekeepers, physicians and administrators. The actual times required to gain accessibility in the various process stages and in the various departments were obtained through simulated requests for appointments, by monitoring telephone calls to the various gate-keeping stations, by direct observations, and by the use of a telephone traffic computer. The paper discusses the Index developed, the data collection methodologies, and the data analyses performed.

Ambulatory Care Facilities↗

Measuring the necessity of medical procedures.

This is a report on the extension of the concept of the appropriateness of a procedure to the necessity, or crucial importance, of that procedure. To state that a procedure is crucial means that withholding the procedure would be deleterious to the patient's health. Appropriateness and necessity ratings for six procedures were obtained using a modified Delphi panel process developed in earlier work. Panels were composed of practicing clinicians who were recognized leaders in their fields. The panels included both performers and nonperformers of the procedure under discussion. For most procedures and panelists, necessity was related to appropriateness, but was distinct from it. The proportion of indications for which the procedure was crucial varied in clinically consistent ways both among and within procedures. However, panelists did not achieve a consensus on necessity. Further research is suggested to refine the method to promote consensus and to validate further the ratings of necessity. In conclusion, necessity ratings can be used together with appropriateness ratings to address not only the overuse of procedures, but also to indicate limited access to care through underuse of procedures.

Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary↗

A method of developing and weighting explicit process of care criteria for quality assessment.

The use of explicit criteria to evaluate how well processes of care conform to accepted standards is a key method of quality assessment. Synthesizing four decades of literature, we devised an inexpensive, 6-step method of developing reliable, content-valid, explicit process criteria. This paper describes the method using a set of congestive heart failure criteria. In step 1 of the Criteria Development Method, criteria are derived from state-of-the-art clinical literature. In step 2, criteria are refined by expert panels. In this study, panelists refined the items by mail in a three-round Delphi process. In step 3, decisions about unit-or differential item weighting are made; we derived differential item weights from the panelists' third-round ratings. Step 4 consists of flagging items which may yield little information, i.e., consensus items of low import, and nonconsensus items. Numeric flags were computed using third-round median ratings and their interquartile ranges. Selection of a scoring method to summarize scores and communicate results is done in step 5. In step 6, chart reviewers are trained, inter-rater reliability is measured, and items with poor reliability are culled. This straightforward developmental method can be used to devise explicit process criteria for use in ambulatory or hospital settings and to evaluate care delivered by different types of providers. The method yields reliable criteria representing accepted standards of current clinical practice. This high content validity is a sine qua non for convergent and predictive validity, both of which must be demonstrated in empirical studies in which the criteria are compared against external yardsticks.

Delphi Technique↗

Achieving consensus across diverse stakeholders on quality measures for mental healthcare.

OBJECTIVE: Quality-improvement efforts are hindered by a lack of consensus on meaningful and feasible measures of care. The objective of this study was to develop a core set of quality measures for mental health and substance-related care that are meaningful to stakeholders, feasible to implement, and broadly representative of diverse dimensions of the mental health system. METHOD: A 12-member panel of stakeholders from national organizations evaluated 116 process measures in a 2-stage modified Delphi consensus development process. Drawing on a conceptual framework and literature review, panelists rated each measure on 7 domains using a 9-point scale (1 = best). Measures were then mapped to a framework of system dimensions to identify a core set with the highest ratings for system characteristics within each dimension. RESULTS: Twenty-eight measures were identified assessing treatment (12), access (2), assessment (2), continuity (4), coordination (2), prevention (1), and safety (5). Overall, mean ratings for meaningfulness were: clinical importance 2.29; perceived gap between actual and optimal care 2.59; association between improved performance and outcome 2.61. For feasibility, mean ratings were clarity of specifications 3.39; acceptability of data collection burden 4.77; and adequacy of case mix adjustment 4.20. The measures address a range of treatment modalities, clinical settings, diagnostic categories, vulnerable populations, and other dimensions of mental healthcare. CONCLUSIONS: A structured consensus process identified a core set of quality measures that are meaningful and feasible to multiple stakeholders, as well as broadly representative of the mental healthcare system. By yielding quantitative assessments of meaningfulness, feasibility and degree of consensus among stakeholders, these results can inform ongoing national efforts to adopt common quality measures for mental healthcare.

Adult↗

Roles, responsibilities, and outcome expectations of endowed chairs in nursing.

This study, using a modified Delphi approach, examines the purpose, roles, responsibilities, and outcomes of endowed chairholders in nursing. Deans and faculty who hold endowed chairs participated in this 3-phased study. While the ranking of importance varied between these 2 groups of experts, common themes emerged relative to the phenomenon under investigation. Findings from this preliminary work can be used by deans and chairholders to develop job descriptions and evaluate the impact of endowments in a program of nursing.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

A methodology for validating nursing diagnoses.

A methodologic approach consisting of four phases is proposed for validating nursing diagnoses. The sequential phases include use of the Delphi technique, magnitude estimation scaling, patient observation, and testing nursing interventions through clinical trials. The proposed methodologic approach is a strategy for researching the diagnosis and treatment of human responses to actual or potential health problems--the foundation for nursing practice.

Clinical Nursing Research↗

What role does occupational and environmental health law have in graduate and continuing medical education?

A two-stage survey that used the Delphi technique was performed to determine the attitudes and needs of physicians that practice occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) regarding continuing medical education (CME) and Master of Public Health (MPH) curriculum in the area of health law. Forty-six of the 80 subjects (58%) responded to the first survey, and 39 of these 46 (85%) responded to the follow-up survey. The results showed that most subjects agreed with the need for CME to devote approximately 14 hours over the next two years (1993-1995) to occupational/environmental health laws and regulations. Interest was also expressed in some practical business law that would be helpful to medical practices. The survey's results showed agreement on the need for a three-credit hour MPH course for OEM residents. The differences between the subgroups of academic faculty-post-1990 graduates of MPH or occupational medicine residencies, pre-1990 graduates, and those with no formal OEM education-were also investigated. Pre-1990 graduates consistently desired more hours of CME for the topics surveyed. This study should be helpful for planners of OEM CME courses and for residency directors.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Educating to manage the accelerated change environment effectively: Part 2.

Without appropriate educational preparation, nurse managers may not have the competencies to manage accelerated change effectively. Part 1 of this two-part series provided the condensed findings from an extensive review of nursing, business, and higher education literature. Part 2 describes the results of a Delphi study whereby baccalaureate-prepared nurse manager experts and nurse educator experts in baccalaureate nursing programs validated what linear and nonlinear change management concepts they believed were relevant in managing change in today's dynamic environment. Staff development educators and administrators, as organizational change agents, can use the validated concepts to develop educational offerings to promote effective change management.

Adult↗

Immunization information systems national research and evaluation agenda.

Immunization Information Systems (IIS) are operational in most states and are useful in programmatic and clinical assessments. To ensure that IIS reach their technical and usability potential, and to promote their use, we conducted a Delphi survey to develop a national IIS research and evaluation agenda. Experts with a wide range of IIS knowledge were asked to generate research and evaluation topics that document their utility in achieving and sustaining clinical and public health goals. Topics were then collated by the authors into 13 main categories and were ranked by the survey experts in order of importance. Provider perspectives and needs was ranked as the top research priority. Both data quality and technical data exchange also ranked high, as well as increasing provider participation and IIS cost and cost savings. Lower-ranked research priorities included data sharing between states and factors affecting IIS population-based measurements. Development of an IIS research and evaluation agenda allows policy makers to ensure that their decisions coincide with expert views on national priorities and enables researchers to conduct studies addressing topics recognized as nationally important. It also allows for targeted funding decisions.

Delphi Technique↗

Quantifying case management workloads: Development of the PACE tool.

In 1999, the Clinical Resource Management (CRM) group at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho, implemented a specialty-based nursing case management model for individual caseload assignment of all inpatient admissions. This model assigns caseloads by proportion determined by physician specialty type. This model does not consider patient acuity and may have weaknesses associated with self-report. In addition, time requirements for effective case management outcomes are not always reflected in admission volumes alone. This article describes the development and pilot testing of the Patient Acuity Case management Evaluation (PACE) measurement tool. Five phases of methodological development are discussed: (1) conceptualization phase, (2) content development, (3) Delphi technique using expert opinion and critique, (4) inter (intrarater reliability testing, and (5) pilot testing of acuity tool. Examples of instrument development throughout these phases are included. This instrument is expected to provide verifiable measurement of individual and group case management workload.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗