Psychometric testing of health promotion capacity checklist for community-based organizations

Aim

Research demonstrates the efficacy of health promotion programs on psychosocial and physical health among adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) receiving services in Community-Based Organizations (CBOs). Organizational capacity and employee awareness are critical components to the implementation and sustainability of health promotion programs. This study aims to develop and evaluate an Employee and Organizational Health Promotion Capacity Checklist.

Method

Focus groups were conducted with consumers, families, staff, management, and a board member using semi-structured interviews to develop the items in the checklist. The Health Promotion Capacity Checklist assesses perceptions of knowledge, skills, available resources, commitment (informal and written policies), and organizational culture to identify structures and resources for incorporating sustainable health promotion activities supporting adults with I/DD. We recruited 53 staff at a CBO to test the reliability of the Checklist. The Checklist was administered two times at two week intervals.

Results

Analyses of reliability coefficients for the Employee Capacity Checklist subscales (e.g., confidence doing health promotion, agency policies, agency resources, and health promotion knowledge) ranged from .90 - .67. Test/retest correlations ranged from .74 - .58. The reliability coefficients for the Organizational Capacity Checklist subscales (e.g., organization commitment, supportive health promotion policies, policies supporting staff to do health promotion, and organizational resources) ranged from .92 - .81. Test/retest correlations ranged from .83 - .74.

Conclusions

This Checklist has the potential for use by management in CBOs to develop strategic plans for creating sustainable health promotion programs for their clients with I/DD and employees.