The Delphi Process
During the summer and autumn of 2003, Partners in Practice ran a public consultation process to determine what these learning outcomes should be.
In order to get a consensus of opinion, we used a technique called the Delphi Process. The Delphi Process of consultation is anonymous, there is no limit to how many people can take part and it can be done by post, online or by phone. We were particularly interested to hear the opinions of disabled people, people working with or for disabled people, healthcare workers and people within the healthcare sector.
What the consultation involved
The Delphi consultation asked participants to rate a series of learning outcomes from 0 – 9 depending on how essential they felt them to be in a healthcare professional’s disability equality training.
Each participant was then re-sent the document, this time showing the rating they assigned each descriptor in relation to the average rating given by everyone else. This enabled people to reconsider their answers in the light of other people's responses and to make alterations if they so wished. In this way we could achieve a consensus.
Online Consultation
The consultation document was based on disabled people’s opinions gathered at a workshop held in March 2003. Ideas were grouped into three broad themes – attitudes, knowledge and skills. These themes were then divided into learning outcomes, which in turn are described in more detail as ‘descriptors’.
The consultation was available in a variety of formats and could be completed online, by post or by telephone, whilst people with learning difficulties and Deaf British Sign Language Users participated in facilitated workshops.
Delphi Results
The original consultation document contained 12 curriculum learning outcomes broken down into a further 39 descriptors. All high scoring statements in either category will now become learning outcomes in the new curriculum framework.
Over 150 people took part in the Delphi consultation. Although providing personal information was optional, the majority of participants did. From this we know that approximately 45% of participants were disabled, 82 were women, 38 were men and the majority were aged between 35 - 54 years old.
Although few statements received a ranking lower than than 6 (on a scale of 0 - 9), there was a fair degree of variation within the 7 - 9 range. When results were analysed to see how many statements were ranked either 8 or 9 by 75% or more of people, the following learning outcomes were revealed as the most important:
| Percentage of people scoring 8 or 9 | Learning Outcome / Descriptor |
|---|---|
| 89% | Understand that people with long-term conditions are often experts on their medical problems and lifestyle issues |
| 86% | Recognise that different disabled people have different needs, identities and preferences |
| 86% | Recognise that not all problems have a medical solution |
| 84% | Recognise the danger of excluding other diagnoses based on preconceptions about people with an impairment |
| 83% | See the person as capable of making rational life decisions |
| 80% | Demonstrate an awareness of the communication needs of people with hearing, speech, visual, or learning impairments * with real world experience to gain practice and confidence |
| 80% | Demonstrate practice that values diversity and uses an equality based approach to healthcare and its outcomes |
| 79% | Challenge the use of discriminatory language and advocate non-discriminatory language within their profession |
| 79% | Remove barriers to disabled people's equal access to health services |
| 79% | Recognise the rights of disabled staff members |
| 78% | Recognise that disabled people's particular health needs may not be related to their impairments |
| 78% | Practice equal opportunities in employment |
| 77% | Recognise that people with 'invisible impairments often have their access requirements overlooked |
| 77% | Not letting carers or personal assistants speak for autonomous disabled people |
| 75% | Demonstrate the ability to critically reflect on their practice and the practice of others |