Developing and validating an intervention-specific knowledge assessment for person-centered communication in nursing home continuing education.

Purpose: The assessment of knowledge gain from educational interventions is a common practice in dementia care research. This study aimed to refine and validate the Changing Talk Scale (CHATS), a tool for assessing knowledge of effective and person-centered communication in nursing home staff. CHATS was integrated into the Changing Talk: Online (CHATO) education program to measure the knowledge gains resulting from it.

Methods: Test items for CHATS were created based on the 13 learning objectives of CHATO. These items underwent iterative revisions based on psychometric analyses across four pilot studies, culminating in two 13-item alternate forms. These forms were evaluated using psychometric analysis and linear mixed modeling with 664 staff members from 15 nursing homes across the US.

Results: The reliability of CHATS, measured by Cronbach's α, was .56 and .49 pre-education, and .70 and .77 post-education for the two forms respectively. The mean CHATS scores were higher for staff with higher education levels and increased after the CHATO, irrespective of staff or nursing home characteristics.

Conclusions: The development and validation of a test to capture knowledge requires the consideration of multiple aspects. CHATS effectively demonstrated knowledge gains from the CHATO intervention across various types of staff.