Response Bias in Studying Hospice Clients' Needs

Client-centered needs assessments are a useful tool in attempting to design hospice programs so that they meet the needs and wants of their clients. Because of its recent development, hospice proponents face difficult decisions concerning what services would best serve their clients. Needs assessments provide empirical data on issues that are of most concern to hospice clients. This information can then be used to select services to meet those concerns. In gathering data from hospice clients, researchers must be aware that the sensitive nature of the life event may lead to a response bias in client surveys. This paper examines the response bias that occurred in one needs assessment study. The results showed that the bias may have eliminated clients having had the most difficult illness experiences from the study. Had the bias gone unnoticed, the needs of the nonrespondents may have been neglected in the construction of the hospice program.