Reviewing Results of Psychological Tests in a Patient Group

Believing that much helpful information from psychological test results was not being transmitted to patients, psychologists on a teaching ward at a Veterans Administration hospital began holding group sessions to explain the results of psychological tests to patients. Attendance was voluntary, but 96 per cent of the patients who were tested in a one-year period attended, an average of four or five each session. The psychologist described routine tests and how the results were used and then presented individual test results, giving practical illustrations of the findings and emphasizing patients' strengths and coping styles. Scores from questionnaires administered to patients after they completed the tests and at the end of the group session showed that their attitudes toward tests became more positive after the group session, and that they felt that hearing their own and others' test results had been helpful.