Calidad percibida en Centros de Atención Temprana de Andalucía. Estudio cualitativo

Abstract

Publications are not abundant about Early Childhood Intervention Centers and even less with reference to the perceived quality of their users and families. The lack of consensus in the organization of these services at the regional, national and international levels, as well as the lack of its social recognition and its target population, can contribute partially to this lack of knowledge. The objective of this study was to explore the perceived quality of service by the families attended in the Early Intervention Centers in Andalusia from a qualitative perspective, using interviews with parents through written questionnaires. Two categories merged during the analysis: what works well (strengths) and not so well (weaknesses) that derived in 6 subcategories regarding the organization, allocation, timing, structure, human resources and therapies’ outcomes. As main conclusions, the weaknesses identified lied in tangible elements of the service while, professional-family relational aspects were better valued by families. To know the quality of Early Intervention Centers could allow us improving the population attention by matching the objectives of both users and institutions, thus introducing positive changes in the assessment of the impact on the families’ and children’s health.