Development work for the ASCS survey suggested that many people who struggle to complete a highly structured interview can clearly express their feelings about their quality of life if they are given the opportunity to present these in their own words.
This work would seek to develop and test a qualitative interview version of ASCOT. Structured around the domains of ASCOT, this interview version would allow respondents to talk about areas of SCRQoL in their own words.
Key questions this work would address are:
- Can qualitative interviews enable older adults who struggle with structured interviews and questions to share their experiences?
- When is it appropriate to use a qualitative interview?
- What sort of sort of data can be gained from a qualitative interview and how should it be used? Can it be used to feed into or create ASCOT scores or should it stand on its own?
This strand of the work would have the following steps:
1. Developing of a pilot interview schedule that draws on the ASCOT domains
2. Initial testing.
This would involve:
- Testing pilot interview schedule in interviews with older care home residents
- Revising the interview schedule as appropriate
3. Further testing
- Application in a wider range of service groups and settings
- Develop further if necessary – revision of schedule/ additional guidance for these purposes
4. Development of use of the data
- Analysis of data, looking particularly at the quality of the data
- Developing approaches to presentation and how such data can be used alongside quantitative data.
The decision to start with care homes for older people is pragmatic: we would draw on other ongoing work in care homes for older people, which is being funded by the NIHR School for Social Care Research. This will allow initial development before testing further with a wider service group (particularly people with learning difficulties) and in other care settings, including people’s own homes.