Validated Tools

One of the primary areas of our work is measurement, as what cannot be measured cannot be fixed. Our lab has developed and validated various tools for measuring person-centered care across the pregnancy childbirth continuum and the reproductive life course. Each scale captures several domains of person-centered care, including dignity and respect, communication and autonomy, and responsive and supportive care. These tools have been validated in various settings and provide valid and reliable ways of measuring person-centered care. They also provide examples of how person-centered care can be measured in standardized ways to compare across contexts.

Tools and related guidance

• Person-centered maternity care (PCMC) scale: LMIC version
• Person-centered maternity care (PCMC) scale: US version
• Person-centered maternity care (PCMC) scale: short version
• Person-centered prenatal care (PCPC) scale: US version
• Person-centered prenatal care (PCPC) scale: LMIC version 
• Person-centered postnatal care (PCPNC) scale
• Person-centered family planning care (PCFP) scale
• Person-centered abortion care (PCAC) scale.
• Provider-reported PCMC scale

Selected publications

• Afulani PA, Diamond-Smith N, Golub G, Sudhinaraset M. Development of a tool to measure person-centered maternity care in developing settings: validation in a rural and urban Kenyan population. Reprod Health. 2017 Sep 22; 14(1):118. PMID: 28938885. PMCID: PMC5610540
• Afulani PA, Diamond-Smith N, Phillips B, Singhal S, Sudhinaraset M. Validation of the person-centered maternity care scale in India. Reprod Health. 2018 Aug 29;15(1):147. doi: 10.1186/s12978-018-0591-7. PMID: 30157877; PMCID: PMC6114501.
• Afulani PA, Feeser K, Sudhinaraset M, Aborigo R, Montagu D, Chakraborty N. Toward the development of a short multi-country person-centered maternity care scale. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2019 Jul;146(1):80-87. doi: 10.1002/ijgo.12827. Epub 2019 May 9. PMID: 31004349.
• Afulani PA, Altman MR, Castillo E, Bernal N, Jones L, Camara T, Carrasco Z, Williams S, Sudhinaraset M, Kuppermann M. Adaptation of the Person-Centered Maternity Care Scale in the United States: Prioritizing the Experiences of Black Women and Birthing People. Women’s Health Issues. Published online March 9, 2022. doi:10.1016/j.whi.2022.01.006
• Afulani PA, Altman MR, Castillo E, Bernal N, Jones L, Camara T, Carrasco Z, Williams S, Sudhinaraset M, Kuppermann M. Development of the person-centered prenatal care scale for people of color. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2021 Apr 13; PMID: 33862014
• Sudhinaraset M, Landrian A, Afulani PA, Phillips B, Diamond-Smith N, Cotter S. Development and validation of a person-centered abortion scale: the experiences of care in private facilities in Kenya. BMC Womens Health. 2020;20(1):208. doi:10.1186/s12905-020-01071-w
• Sudhinaraset M, Afulani PA, Diamond‐Smith N, Golub G, Srivastava A. Development of a Person-Centered Family Planning Scale in India and Kenya. Stud Fam Plann. 0(0). 2018;doi:10.1111/sifp.12069
• Afulani PA, Aborigo RA, Nutor JJ, Okiring J, Kuwolamo I, Ogolla BA, Oboke EN, Dorzie JBK, Odiase OJ, Steinauer J, Walker D. Self-reported provision of person-centred maternity care among providers in Kenya and Ghana: scale validation and examination of associated factors. BMJ Glob Health. 2021 Nov;6(12):e007415. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007415. PMID: 34853033; PMCID: PMC8638154.
• Afulani PA, Nakphong MK, Sudhinaraset M. Person-centred sexual and reproductive health: A call for standardized measurement. Health Expect. 2023;26:1384–1390. doi: 10.1111/hex.13781