An assessment of physical therapists' orientations to planned change

Fifty-three physical therapists employed in 13 hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex participated in a study to determine how physical therapists approach the process of planned change. The researcher-developed Change Orientation Inventory was designed to measure individuals' attitudes toward seven change strategies. Test reliability was determined with a test-retest methodology, and a one month interval between testing dates. Each strategy's reliability was determined, with the mean reliability of the instrument found to be 0.57. The subjects' consistence in responding to the inventory was examined to determine the internal consistence aspect of test reliability. Ninety-one percent of the study participants demonstrated an internal consistence significant at the 0.05 level. Subjects' average scores were used to determine physical therapists' change orientations. The therapists were found to prefer the change orientation in the following order (most preferred to least preferred): academic, engineering, fellowship, economic, confrontation, political, and military.