Development of a Scale for Assessing the Childcare Information Utilisation Skills of Childcare Professionals (SACIUS)
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: Aim) Childcare professionals who work at childcare centres require the skills to maintain and improve the overall health of the children for whom they care. The purpose of this study was to develop a scale for assessing the childcare information utilisation skills (i.e. skills for utilizing information towards the betterment of the child) of childcare professionals, as well as confirm its reliability and validity. Furthermore, we intended this scale to be used in the 'plan-do-check-act' cycle of childcare professionals to maximise each child's ability. (Methods) Item development was conducted through focus group interviews. Validity and reliability were assessed with a sample of 178 childcare professionals throughout Japan. Then, using factor analysis, the predicted 2-factor structure was obtained; the factor pattern was similar to a simple structure, thereby confirming the factorial validity. (Results) The first factor (12 items) consisted of the childcare professionals' skills for assessing information, putting this assessment into practice, evaluating the practice, and then incorporating their evaluation into further practice to increase their knowledge and improve their skills; thus, the factor was called 'advanced information utilisation skills'. The second factor (14 items) consisted of childcare professionals' skills for collecting and understanding basic information; thus, we called it 'basic information utilisation'. The Cronbach's alpha values were consistently high (first factor: α = 0.93; second factor: α = 0.90; whole scale: α = 0.94), thus confirming the internal consistency reliability of the scale. The results of correlational analysis of age, work experience, and Early Childhood Environment Rating confirmed the criterion validity; another correlational analysis with a measure of communicative and critical health literacy confirmed the construct validity. (Conclusion) The final scale consisted of 2 factors and 26 items. With the confirmation of the validity and reliability, we expect that this scale will contribute to improvements in the quality of childcare, as well as lead childcare professionals to acquire improved materials to be used in childcare.
Language: English
Subfield: Research and Theory
Field: Nursing
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W65354511