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Post-Assessment Feedback

Post-assessment feedback is where psychologists review the purpose of the assessment, present the assessment findings and recommend possible interventions and course of action. Post assessment feedback should be conducted after psychologist has completed the psychological report (if any). It is preferable to be provided within a certain time frame after the assessment. Steps should be taken to avoid unnecessary delays. It is an important phase to prepare clients and their families for interventions. It can lay a good foundation for constructive client-professional collaboration and clients/family may act on what was presented to them for their consideration. When it is not handled properly, it may affect client’s and family’s well-being at the time of receiving diagnostic and assessment results and in times to come.

Psychologists are expected to:

  • Communicate and explain the results and the technical aspects of the assessment in a clear language that clients and families feel comfortable and can easily understand

  • Be knowledgeable on organisational and community resources and make relevant recommendations for further intervention and support

  • Demonstrate warmth, empathy and respect in the interaction and manage the feedback using a collaborative approach

  • Invite clients and families to participate in decision making process for intervention and recognise how family, cultural values and beliefs can affect them

Here are some ideas and resources to spark your learning and thinking: 

 

The Post Assessment Interview

Sattler (2014) – Chapter 7 on The Post Assessment Interview

  It gives information about how to conduct a feedback session with children and parents after assessment (p.237-245). The chapters cover topics on:

  • Guideline for the Post-Assessment Interview

  • Post-Assessment Interview with Children

  • Post-Assessment Interview with Parents

  • Post-Assessment Interview with parents as a staff conference

  • Questions that parents may ask in the post-assessment interview

Sattler, J. M. (2014). Foundations of Behavioral, Social, and Clinical Assessment of Children Sixth Edition. San Diego: Jerome M. Sattler, Publisher, Inc. 

 See more here.

Sharing assessment results is no easy task. Not only do psychologists need to explain important information to clients, they need to be mindful of clients’ feelings and reactions to the information provided. Psychologists may feel nervous about sharing results, especially when they are uncertain about the clients’/caregivers’ reactions or the results are different from the expectations of clients/caregivers. The psychologist’s behaviour during post-assessment feedback can affect clients’/caregivers’ reaction to the results. Here are the tools we gathered from our psychologists in the community. They can be used for reference when giving assessment feedback to clients/caregivers.

BREAKS Protocol

This document compiles the tips by psychologists in the community. We provide an example of how BREAKS Protocol (Narayanan, Bista, & Koshy, 2010) can be used in the community settings in both early intervention and adult disability.

GRIEF CYCLE

This document provides handy tips by our psychologists on how to use the grief cycle to understand possible caregiver’s emotional responses to post assessment feedback.