Development and preliminary validation of a Greek-language outpatient satisfaction questionnaire with principal components and multi-trait analyses

BACKGROUND: In the recent years there is a growing interest in Greece concerning the measurement of the satisfaction of patients who are visiting the outpatient clinics of National Health System (NHS) general acute hospitals. The aim of this study is therefore to develop a patient satisfaction questionnaire and provide its preliminary validation. METHODS: A questionnaire in Greek has been developed by literature review, researchers' on the spot observation and interviews. Pretesting has been followed by telephone surveys in two short-term general NHS hospitals in Macedonia, Greece. A proportional stratified random sample of 285 subjects and a second random sample of 100 outpatients, drawn on March 2004, have been employed for the analysis. These have resulted in scale creation via Principal Components Analysis and psychometric testing for internal consistency, test-retest and interrater reliability as well as construct validity. RESULTS: Four summated scales have emerged regarding the pure outpatient component of the patients' visits, namely medical examination, hospital environment, comfort and appointment time. Cronbach's alpha coefficients and Pearson, Spearman and intraclass correlations indicate a high degree of scale reliability and validity. Two other scales -lab appointment time and lab experience- capture the apparently distinct yet complementary visitor experience related to the radiographic and laboratory tests. Psychometric tests are equally promising, however, some discriminant validity differences lack statistical significance. CONCLUSION: The instrument appears to be reliable and valid regarding the pure outpatient experience, whereas more research employing larger samples is required in order to establish the apparent psychometric properties of the complementary radiographic and laboratory-testing process, which is only relevant to about 25% of the subjects analysed here

Planning Education in Germany: Impact of the Bologna Agreement

Following the 1999 Bologna agreement, higher education institutions in Germany and other European countries have engaged in a fundamental reform of their programs and curricula with the goal to enhance compatibility and comparability of degrees across Europe. This paper provides an initial review of the impact of these structural reforms on German urban and regional planning education, for which bachelor's and master's degrees have by now almost entirely replaced traditional diploma programs. Findings derive from comparing the typical planning education pathways, study programs and curricula of pre1999 and current programs. Wider implications for the quality of planning education in Germany are also discussed, including the level of international recognition of programs and whether mobility and transferability between European countries has been increased. The review reveals that the restructuring has led to greater choice and more diversity of planning programs. A considerable number of new master's programs in planning were established postBologna by cognate disciplines and faculties, such as architecture, geography, environmental sciences and sociology. However, the reforms have raised issues with respect to professional recognition, for example, which are as yet unresolved.</p

Plan vs Project Dilemma Revisited: A Progress Review of Urban and Regional Studies Literature

The plan vs project dilemma is a starting discussion point in classic urban and regional studies in which key planning ideas originate from plans, projects, or both. Urban and regional studies are characterised by paradigms that pose or reconcile the plan vs dilemma, a durable dualism which is at the kernel of planning knowledge and action. The paradigm shift from plan to project provides an impetus to reconsider the dualistic relation between plan and project in a progress review of planning literature from the classics to a flurry of recent empirical studies of major projects and \u27strategic\u27 spatial plans. The paper concludes with urban and regional studies that point towards expansive concepts that carefully regard the wider sectoral, spatial, institutional and environmental contexts of projects in an integrated development framework that parallels strategic spatial and comprehensive plans. © 2012 Urban Studies Journal Limited