Abstract
Background: The concept of ‘presence’ appears frequently
in the literature and seems to be a highly relevant
concept in discussing and evaluating quality of
relations in healthcare practices. However, no existing
self-report measure of presence for health professionals
was found.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was (i) to develop a selfreport
questionnaire for measuring presence and (ii) to conduct
initial psychometric testing of the questionnaire.
Method: The process followed two steps. Phase 1 consisted
of the development of 64 items that were derived from
the ‘theory of presence’ (ToP) as developed by Andries
Baart in the Netherlands in 2001. Face and content validity
were completed by a panel of experts in ToP. A pilot
study to test understandability was done (N = 22).
During Phase 2, 48 remaining items of the Presence
Questionnaire for Caregivers (PQ-C) were tested among
723 healthcare professionals. Exploratory principal component
analysis was conducted, and reliability coefficients
and known-group validity were assessed.
Results: Principal component analysis showed three new
components that were labelled ‘dedicated attitude’,
‘openness in perception’ and ‘reciprocal humaneness’.
Thirty-one items were retained which explain 25.4% of
the variance. An initial psychometric assessment of the
shortened scale showed a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.82 and a
Spearman–Brown coefficient (for equal length) of 0.63.
There were significant differences in sum scores between
groups based on age, years of experience and familiarity
with ToP.
Conclusion: It appeared possible to develop a self-report
questionnaire for measuring presence and establish face
and content validity. In initial exploratory factor analysis,
the eight theoretical principles of ToP used to develop
the questionnaire were not reflected, and three new
components appeared. Further research is needed to
examine the value of the three new dimensions, and
investigation into the construct validity and reliability of
the three new components is recommended.
in the literature and seems to be a highly relevant
concept in discussing and evaluating quality of
relations in healthcare practices. However, no existing
self-report measure of presence for health professionals
was found.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was (i) to develop a selfreport
questionnaire for measuring presence and (ii) to conduct
initial psychometric testing of the questionnaire.
Method: The process followed two steps. Phase 1 consisted
of the development of 64 items that were derived from
the ‘theory of presence’ (ToP) as developed by Andries
Baart in the Netherlands in 2001. Face and content validity
were completed by a panel of experts in ToP. A pilot
study to test understandability was done (N = 22).
During Phase 2, 48 remaining items of the Presence
Questionnaire for Caregivers (PQ-C) were tested among
723 healthcare professionals. Exploratory principal component
analysis was conducted, and reliability coefficients
and known-group validity were assessed.
Results: Principal component analysis showed three new
components that were labelled ‘dedicated attitude’,
‘openness in perception’ and ‘reciprocal humaneness’.
Thirty-one items were retained which explain 25.4% of
the variance. An initial psychometric assessment of the
shortened scale showed a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.82 and a
Spearman–Brown coefficient (for equal length) of 0.63.
There were significant differences in sum scores between
groups based on age, years of experience and familiarity
with ToP.
Conclusion: It appeared possible to develop a self-report
questionnaire for measuring presence and establish face
and content validity. In initial exploratory factor analysis,
the eight theoretical principles of ToP used to develop
the questionnaire were not reflected, and three new
components appeared. Further research is needed to
examine the value of the three new dimensions, and
investigation into the construct validity and reliability of
the three new components is recommended.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 173-182 |
| Journal | Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences |
| Volume | 2014 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- caring
- presence
- theory of presence
- ethics of care
- quality of care
- instrument development
- psycho-metric properties
- factor analysis