Psychometric evaluation of the hope, agency and opportunity (HAO); a brief measure of mental health recovery

J Ment Health. 2017 Dec;26(6):562-568. doi: 10.1080/09638237.2017.1385746. Epub 2017 Oct 6.

Abstract

Background: The development of safe and effective mental health services is a priority. This requires valid measures of personal recovery, yet these tools are not embedded in routine clinical practice. Brief "patient reported measures" are most likely to be acceptable to service-users and clinicians. The 4-item "Hope, Agency and Opportunity" (HAO) was co-produced to assess recovery outcomes and experience of mental health services.

Aim: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the HAO.

Method: A clinical sample from secondary healthcare services and a non-clinical sample were assessed at baseline and two weeks, on measures of personal recovery.

Results: Factor analysis indicated goodness of fit for the HAO with both clinical and non-clinical samples. The measure demonstrated acceptable internal consistency, moderate to strong construct validity and substantial test-retest reliability over two weeks.

Conclusions: The HAO demonstrates satisfactory psychometric properties. Co-production of the measure confers clinical credibility. The brevity of the tool means it can be incorporated into routine clinical practice to drive improvements in service quality.

Keywords: PREMs; PROMs; Patient reported measures; outcome evaluation; psychometric evaluation; questionnaire validation; recovery.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Factor Analysis, Statistical
  • Female
  • Hope*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mental Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Mental Disorders / psychology*
  • Mental Health Recovery*
  • Mental Health Services
  • Middle Aged
  • Patient Outcome Assessment
  • Psychometrics
  • Recovery of Function
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Self Efficacy*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires / standards*
  • Young Adult