Research

The SCQ Competence and Ability Self Assessments: Valid and Reliable Measures to Assess Individual's Capacity to Provide Compassion in the Healthcare System

Dr. Shane Sinclair

March 6, 2023

Validity and Reliability Testing: Results Published in the Journal of Internal Medicine.

Among other exciting findings, stemming from our recent study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, was establishing the validity and reliability of the SCQ-HCPCSA (Sinclair Compassion Questionnaire-Healthcare Provider Competence Self-Assessment) and the SCQ-HCPASA (Sinclair Compassion Questionnaire-Healthcare Provider Ability Self-Assessment). You can find the results of the Exploratory Factor Analysis in the supplementary section at the bottom of the full open access article.

The SCQ Competence and Ability Scales are valid and reliable measure that can be used by healthcare providers, educators, researchers, system analysts, and senior leaders to assess healthcare providers'/learners' compassion competence and their ability to work to the full scope of their competence within the practice setting and organizational culture.

Why measure Healthcare Provider Self-Assessed Competence in Compassion: The SCQ-HCPCSA?

The SCQ-HCPCSA can be used as a self-assessment tool for both learners (future healthcare providers, students, medical residents, etc..) and practicing healthcare providers (physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, etc...) to determine their perceived competence providing compassion, using the 15 questions of the SCQ--which was recently recognized as the most valid and reliable compassion measure available according to a systematic review published in the journal, The Patient. The SCQ-HCPCSA can be used by educators, for example, as a pre-post training assessment to measure the affect of a compassion educational intervention or to assess student's compassion competence at admission to medical school in comparison to graduation. Researchers can use it to assess associations between healthcare provider assessed compassion competence and patients actual experiences of compassion from their healthcare providers or to evaluate how compassion competence varies by career stage, among other things.

Why measure Healthcare Provider Self-Assessed Ability to Provide Compassion in the Healthcare System: The SCQ-HCPASA?

The SCQ-HCPASA is the first valid and reliable compassion measure that allows researchers, providers, care teams, educators, and organizations to assess healthcare provider’s ability to provide compassion within their workplace and organizational culture—providing an important metric to tap into the emerging area of organizational compassion.  As our recent report on measuring compassion across the healthcare system identified and associated blog post detail, there is currently a lack of valid and reliable organizational compassion measures within healthcare. The SCQ-HCPASA provides the means to assess how the practice environment and organizational culture impact healthcare providers ability to provide compassionate care. In doing so it allows us to measure, in a psychometrically rigorous manner, the organizational conditions where compassion fails and flourishes, in order to improve the flow compassion across the healthcare system.

Download all the versions of the SCQ, including the SCQ-HCPCSA and SCQ-HCPASA here: Get the SCQ

SCQ Video Tutorials: The Sinclair Compassion Questionnaire

Photo by Patty Brito on Unsplash

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