What is good service quality? Day service staff's perspectives about what it looks like and how it should be monitored

Abstract

Background: Australian disability services must comply with quality standards defined by federal government. Standards are abstract, focus on paperwork and rarely describe what good service quality looks like in practice. This research explored frontline day service staff's perceptions of good service quality to identify ways that it may be better monitored. Methods: Using a constructivist grounded theory methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 9 frontline staff from 3-day services. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed for themes using constant comparison and line-by-line coding. Results: Five categories of good practice were identified: collaborative hands-on leadership, well-planned services, respect for people with intellectual disabilities and their carers, a culture of continuous improvement and professionalization of the support worker role. Conclusions: Results align with research undertaken in accommodation services for people with intellectual disabilities, suggesting commonalities in frontline staff's perceptions of quality in both day and accommodation services.