Prototype of an empowerment scale in the Kaifukuki Rehabilitation Ward

Abstract

In Japan, every Kaifukuki Rehabilitation Ward （KRW） uses the Functional Independence Measure （FIM） to measure clinical outcomes. However, patients who are discharged with an adequate FIM score do not always accomplish satisfactory activities of daily living. Acquiring the ability to recognize one’s own potential and resolve problems, defined as empowerment, is imperative for life. However, there are currently no measurements to assess empowerment intervention outcomes in KRWs. This study aims to create a prototype empowerment scale for KRWs and to establish its validity, reliability, and correlation with the FIM scale. This includes 17 questions based on several items from earlier studies that were translated into Japanese. We verified the item, validity, and reliability of the scale by analyzing the responses of 98 inpatients in KRWs. We also assessed the correlation between the empowerment scale scores and the FIM scores. Although some items exhibited a floor effect, a good discriminative power for all items has been demonstrated in the good-poor analysis, and all items correlated with the total score. Several fit indices for the five-factor structural model in the confirmatory factor analysis and the correlation between the subscale and the total score demonstrated conformable values. The reliability was generally good. The empowerment scale scores and the FIM scores demonstrated little correlation. Although some modifications are necessary, the prototype empowerment scale exhibited validity and reliability. This scale will assess the abilities of patients in a different manner than the FIM construct and may help evaluate the abilities required for daily living after discharge from a more diversified perspective.