Consumer Focus Groups on Physical Activity Guidelines, Submission #8

Moderator’s Guide

Under OMB No. 0990-0281, Prevention Communication Formative Research

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CDC Physical Activity Guidelines Formative Testing Focus Groups

MODERATOR’S GUIDE

WELCOME (5 minutes)

Welcome everyone. My name is _______ and I work for the Academy for Educational Development. Thank you for coming for this discussion. Before we begin, I’d like to explain a few things about this room and how the discussion will work.

1. We are not trying to sell or promote any product or service to you.

2. There are no right or wrong answers--We want to know your opinions.

3. There are microphones in this room that we are using to audiotape the discussion. Afterwards, I have to write a report and by having the tapes it will help me to do this.
   
   Because we are taping, it is important that you try to speak one at a time. I may occasionally interrupt you when two or more people are talking at once in order to be sure everyone gets a chance to talk and that responses are accurately recorded.

4. Behind me is a one-way mirror. Some of the people working on this project are observing this discussion so that they can hear your opinions directly from you. However, your identity and anything you personally say here will remain confidential. Your names, addresses, and phone numbers will not be given to anyone, and no one will contact you after this group is over. When I write my report, I will not refer to anyone by name.

5. The group will last for two hours. I want to be sure not to keep you here any longer, so I may occasionally interrupt the discussion to move us along.

6. Please turn off your beepers & cell phones. Should you need to go to the restroom during the discussion, please feel free to leave, but we’d appreciate it if you would go one at a time.

7. I do not work for the people who are sponsoring this research. If you have something negative to say, it is all right. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. We just want to hear your opinions.
   
   

INTRODUCTION AND WARM-UP (5 minutes)

1. Let’s go around the table and introduce ourselves to each other including:

• your first name;

• where you’re from;

• and what you like to do in your spare time—a hobby, activity, sport, etc. or anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself.

2. Today’s discussion is going to focus on physical activity. Let’s talk a little bit about that phrase. When you hear the phrase “physical activity,” what does that mean to you?

CURRENT PHYSICAL ACTIVITY - BELIEFS, NORMS AND BEHAVIOR (15 minutes)

1. How much physical activity do you think an adult your age should be getting? [ALLOW PEOPLE CHANCE TO ALSO SAY IF THEY HAVE NO IDEA]

1. [WRITE RESPONSES ON FLIPCHART; PROBE SPECIFICALLY FOR RESPONSES ON HOW MANY DAYS/WEEK & HOW MANY MINUTES PER OCCASION THEY THINK AN ADULT SHOULD BE PHYSICALLY ACTIVE]

2. Do you think most people like you are getting that much physical activity?

3. What are some benefits or positive results of getting enough physical activity?

4. What makes it hard to get the right amount of physical activity?

5. What makes it easier to add more physical activity to your day?

6. What are some of the ways you’re physically active in your daily lives? [PROBE FOR HOW MUCH THEY MOVE AND HOW FREQUENTLY THEY ARE PHYSICALLY ACTIVE IN THEIR DAILY LIVES]

1. How much physical activity do you engage in during your spare time?

2. How physically active are you at your job?

c. Do you ever walk or bike to go to work or get around your community?

d. How physically active are you when you’re at home?

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY RECOMMENDATIONS – AWARENESS, UNDERSTANDING, AND ACCEPTANCE (20 minutes)

1. Let’s look at how much physical activity you said adults your age should get. [REFER TO THE FLIPCHART]

1. Where have you heard about how much physical activity you should be getting? [PROBE ABOUT INFO CHANNELS—TV, DOCTOR, FRIENDS, ETC.]

2. Who came up with or sponsored these recommendations? [PROBE: SPECIFIC ORGS, GOV’T, ETC. PROBE ON GOV’T RECS - WHERE AND WHAT THEY HEARD AND THEIR REACTION TO THEM.]

3. What did you think about the physical activity recommendations coming from [SOURCE]? How much did you believe them?

4. Are recommendations something that you ever think about in relation to your own level of physical activity? How so/why not? [PROBE: DOES IT MOTIVATE THEM? FRUSTRATE THEM? ETC]

2. Here are the current recommendations about physical activity from a federal government agency. [read and show unformatted recommendations for moderate, vigorous, and strength training slowly and clearly]

1. What do you think about them? [PROBE FOR INITIAL REACTIONS RELATED TO ACCEPTABILITY, RELEVANCE, AND FEASIBILITY]

2. Have you heard of this set of physical activity recommendations before?

1. Where have you heard about these recommendations?

2. Did you know about the specific number of days and minutes of physical activity that a federal government agency recommends? [PROBE FOR PERCEIVED DIFFERENCES IN AMOUNTS TO GETTING “MODERATE” ACTIVITY VS. “VIGOROUS” ACTIVITY; DO NOT NEED TO USE THESE TERMS, JUST IDEAS BEHIND THEM]

3. Do you feel like you would be able to put the recommendations that I just read to you into practice in your own life? Why/why not?

4. Does it sound like the right amount of physical activity to you?

5. Who would support you in getting this much physical activity? Who might discourage you or make it hard for you to get this much physical activity? [Probe for community groups, organizations, Employer, community leaders, family and friends, etc.]

REACTIONS TO Physical activity GUIDELINES AND ELEMENTS (55 minutes)

[READ OUT LOUD] Several government agencies are working together to develop and publicize guidelines on how much physical activity an adult should get each week. They are now in the process of revising these guidelines to make them clearer. The government hopes to promote these guidelines later this year. Now I would like to show you some materials and get your reaction.

Overall Ad

[SHOW ONE AD WITH CURRENT CDC/ACSM RECOMMENDATIONS AND READ ALL TEXT ALOUD, POINTING TO WHERE THE TEXT APPEARS ON THE BOARD.]

1. What is your initial reaction to this ad? [PROBE ON FEELINGS]

2. What do you think is the main idea of this ad? What is it telling you?

3. What aspect(s) of this ad do you particularly like? [PROBE FOR WORDS, PHRASES, AND GRAPHICS]

4. Is there anything—words or images—you especially dislike? What? Why?

5. Are there any words or phrases that are confusing or hard to understand? [PROBE SPECIFICALLY ON KEY PHRASES AND WHAT THAT MEANS TO THEM]

Headline

1. [READ HEADLINE ALOUD AND POINT TO IT ON THE LARGER BOARD WITH WHOLE AD]

1. What does this headline mean to you?

2. What would you change about this headline to make it clearer?

3. I am going to show a few other headlines that have been developed. [USE FLIPCHART TO SHOW 2 ALTERNATE HEADLINES]

1. What do you think about this one?

2. What does it mean to you? [REPEAT FOR SECOND HEADLINE]

4. We need your creative ideas. Can you think of a better phrase or words to use for a headline? [RECORD RESPONSES ON THE FLIPCHART]

Tagline

1. [READ TAGLINE ALOUD AND POINT TO IT ON THE LARGER BOARD WITH WHOLE AD]

2. What does this phrase mean to you?

3. What would you change about this to make it clearer?

4. I am going to show a few other phrases that have been written. [USE FLIPCHART TO SHOW 2 ALTERNATE TAGLINES]

1. What do you think about this one?

2. What does it mean to you? [REPEAT FOR SECOND TAGLINE]

5. We need your creative ideas. Can you think of a better phrase? [RECORD RESPONSES ON THE FLIPCHART]

R

NOTE: We are comparing the text-plus-icon version of the guidelines in the current recommendations (A) with two alternate pictorial versions with no text (B and C). Each card (A, B and C) will include a depiction of all three of the guidelines.

ecommendations

1. [SHOW VERSION A AND POINT TO THE LARGER POSTER BOARD TO SHOW WHERE THE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE]

a. In your own words, what are these words and the picture telling you? What do these phrases mean?

b. The people who have prepared these may not have communicated the recommendations clearly. What do you think they should fix? What is difficult to understand?

c. How do the three phrases on this card compare? Do they all mean the same thing or do they mean something different? What?

2. We are developing a way to communicate the current physical activity recommendations using only pictures. There are two versions that I want to show you and get your feedback on today. This card also contains three “phrases,” but without words. [SHOW PICTORIAL VERSION B OR C, ALTERNATING THE ORDER BETWEEN GROUPS]

a. In your own words, what are these pictures telling you? What do they mean? Who else has an idea about the meaning of the images?

b. We have heard from some people that these pictures may not communicate the recommendations clearly. What do you think? How could they be improved? What other kinds of pictures would you use to show the type of physical activity? To show the amount of time? To show the number of days per week?

3. [SHOW REMAINING VERSION, B OR C]

a. Here’s another set of three “phrases.” In your own words, what are these pictures telling you? What do they mean? Who else has an idea about the meaning of the images?

b. We have heard from some people that these pictures may not communicate the recommendations clearly. What do you think? How could they be improved? What other kinds of pictures would you use to show the type of physical activity? To show the amount of time? To show the number of days per week?

4. [FOLLOWING THE DISCUSSION, READ THE TEXT OF THE THREE RECOMMENDATIONS. ENSURE THAT PARTICIPANTS UNDERSTAND THE MEANING.]

a. All three of these cards are meant to say the same thing. Now that you know what the guidelines are, which of the three cards do you think does the best job of describing the guidelines? [PROBE FOR ASPECTS OF EACH THAT ARE USEFUL / COMMUNICATE THE GUIDELINES.]

2. The people who designed these cards want for people to be able to understand the guidelines at a glance. They think the best way might be for the pictures alone to give the meaning. What can you tell them that will help them do a better job of using pictures or images to explain the new guidelines? [PROBE FOR DETAILED SUGGESTIONS.]

2. [SHOW CARD A WITH THE WRITTEN GUIDELINES.] The final guidelines will also include very simple written statements of the three guidelines. We think these descriptions could be said better. Could you please tell us how they could be better? What would you change to help people understand the guidelines?

MEDIA CHANNELS AND HEALTH INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOR (15 minutes)

1. Do you actively look for information about health topics?

1. If there were a health issue that you wanted to learn more about, where or to whom would you go for this information? [FIRST GET UNAIDED RESPONSES, THEN PROBE SPECIFICALLY FOR USE OF MEDIA CHANNELS]

2. Do you look for specific health information that is relevant to you or your family from other sources that have not been mentioned yet? What are those sources?

3. What about the government as a source of information about health? Would you trust information you get through the government?

2. I would like to learn about the media that you use and where you go to find out about health issues that are of interest to you.

1. What types of media do you rely on for general news and information? By media I mean television, the Internet, radio, newspapers and magazines, and so forth. [FIRST GET UNAIDED RESPONSES, WRITE RESPONSES ON FLIPCHART, THEN PROBE SPECIFICALLY FOR EACH CHANNEL WITH AN EMPHASIS ON INTERNET USE]

2. Which sources do you think are the most trustworthy? What makes you believe the information that you get from these sources?

4. What are the most believable sources for information about health, wellness, and physical activity?

1. Do you trust the media to provide accurate and credible health information?

2. Which media do you trust the most when it comes to information about health topics?

5. Would you use the Internet to get information about a health topic?

1. How do you use the Internet to get information on health topics?

CLOSING (5 minutes)

1. This group is working hard on these physical activity guidelines. Given your experience and our discussion today, what “words of wisdom” do you have for them? What are the important ideas that they should remember when developing and communicating this information? [PROBE UNTIL UNPRODUCTIVE]

2. [PLEASE ASK OBSERVERS IF THEY HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS]

3. We’re all done for today. Thank you so much for your time; we appreciate that you came out here tonight. Your opinions and insights have been very helpful. Thanks again and enjoy the rest of your evening.

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