Organizational Responsiveness to the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Mixed Methods Social Validity Assessment of Human Services Care Providers

OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic posed many challenges to human services organizations serving persons with pre-existing conditions and health concerns. Study objectives were to assess organizational responsiveness to the pandemic through training, safety, and risk mitigation initiatives at community-based group homes for adults with intellectual disability (ID) and acquired brain injury (ABI). METHOD: This was a two-phase mixed methods study with human services care providers. In phase 1, 54 focus group participants responded to standardized interviews about leadership actions in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and discussed implementation effectiveness. These qualitative findings informed the design and distribution of a multi-item questionnaire in phase 2 that quantified acceptance and approval of leadership actions among 498 participants. RESULTS: Both focus group and questionnaire participants identified several consistent leadership actions that had a positive impact on risk mitigation, health promotion, and participant satisfaction. Participants also converged on priority needs and recommendations for performance improvement. CONCLUSIONS: The study supports previous research on the effects of pandemic health crises among frontline healthcare workers and more definitively the impact on direct care providers of adults with ID and ABI during COVID-19. Care providers were able to judge organizational effectiveness and provide feedback to aide strategic planning. Mixed methods research provides an approach to large-scale program evaluation through integrated qualitative and quantitative analyses.