DECISIONAL CONTROL IN THE CLIENT-PROVIDER RELATIONSHIP: AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION IN A PRIMARY CARE SETTING.
Contributors: University Of Illinois At Chicago, Health Sciences Center.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 193
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Decision Control, an element in Interaction Model of Client Health Behavior, was examined with adults clients interacting with physicians and nurse practitioners in a primary care setting. The study described client behaviors in achieving decisional control and the relationships among client demographic variables, preferences toward decisional control, actual control behaviors, and the health care outcome variables of compliance and satisfaction with provider behavior.

Written questionnaires were used to measure client preferences toward decisional control, perceptions of provider encouragement of decisional control, and satisfaction. Client behavior regarding decisional control was measured by analyzing transcripts of tape recorded encounters between clients and providers (60), while data on compliance and a second measure of satisfaction were collected by telephone questionnaire.

The findings did not confirm the hypothesized relationships among the variables. That is, clients who preferred decisional control and who actively participated in the interaction were hypothesized to be more satisfied and more likely to comply than clients who preferred control but did not participate actively. However, the independent variables did contribute significantly to discriminant models for satisfaction and compliance, and there were significant relationships among several of the variables.

Recommendations for further study include description of the provider's role in encouraging or discouraging decisional control. All studies focusing on client-provider interactions have important implications for nurses and other health care providers.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-10, Section: B, page: 4451.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO, HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, 1989.

School code: 0806.