Consumer satisfaction with a multidisciplinary child guidance service

A structured interview was conducted with a sample of 111 mothers of children who had been discharged from a multi-disciplinary child guidance service in order to obtain information about their satisfaction with the service, the factors that related to satisfaction, and aspects of the service that might be improved. The children of the respondents were representative of the total referrals for the period under consideration in terms of age distribution, sex ratio, and referral source. Seventy-six per cent of the mothers were satisfied with the help received and statistical analysis found that treatment outcome, the attitude of the husband, and the relationship with the therapist were all significantly correlated with satisfaction. Differences in satisfaction were also found to be related to the source of the referral and to the expectations that the mothers had about the form assistance would take. The findings are consistent with a multi-factorial concept of satisfaction. The implications of the survey findings for the service, with particular reference to the critical and positive comments of the mothers about various aspects of their contact, were discussed, and areas in need of further investigation proposed.