Moderator's Guide: Formative Research Focus Groups

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OMB No. 0920-XXXX

Exp. Date XX/XX/XXXX

MODERATOR’S GUIDE:

FORMATIVE RESEARCH FOCUS GROUPS

“Deep Vein Thrombosis/Pulmonary Embolism”

(City)

Date

PURPOSE STATEMENT: To explore knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of DVT/PE, identify DVT/PE information needs, and identify messaging frameworks that raise awareness of DVT/PE.

1. Background and Introductions [10 minutes]

Hi, my name is _____________________________. I am here today on behalf of the Public Health Service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Thank you so much for taking time out to talk with us today. I am here because the Public Health Service at CDC would like to raise public awareness of Deep Vein Thrombosis/Pulmonary Embolism (DVT/PE). We want to talk to you about your opinion on some of the materials that have been developed to accomplish this objective.

The discussion should last 90 minutes. Your participation today is totally voluntary and you can leave the talk at any time. With me today is __________. She will be taking notes so that I can focus on our discussion. Your name will not be written in the notes she takes and your name will not be linked to anything you have said today. Your name will not be included in any of the reports we write about our talk. Everything you say will be kept secure, as allowed by law. The discussion will be taped so that our notetaker will be able to fill in any gaps in her notes from the discussion. Does anyone have any questions?

Before we get started, I want to quickly explain how this will work and cover some ground rules. I’m going to ask you some questions to get the talk started. Anyone can speak out; you don’t need to wait for me to call on you. However, please keep in mind that we have a lot to talk about and materials to review, so it’s important for us to hear from everyone and to discuss all of the topics. Also, please speak one at a time--I would like to hear from each of you and we want to make sure that the tape recorder can pick up what everyone has to say. It is important that we receive your honest opinions, even if it is different from the others. I also ask that you respect each others’ privacy and not share what is said in this talk, once it is over. Please set your cell phones to vibrate. If you need to take a call or use the restroom, please free to step out and join us once you are done.

Do you have any questions before we continue?

1. [GO AROUND THE ROOM, ASK RESPONDENTS TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES.] Please say your first name ONLY, and your favorite television show.

2. Health concerns [5 minutes]

1. Today’s group is going to talk about health issues. So to start us off, what are some health concerns you’ve been hearing a lot about recently?

3. Knowledge of DVT/PE (Awareness, past experiences, and language) [15 minutes]

   1. Here are some health issues. For each of these, just shout out the words that come to mind with each of the following:

      • Blood clots

      • Stroke

      • Deep Vein Thrombosis

      • Pulmonary embolism

   2. What can you tell me about blood clots?

      • Where do they form?

      • How serious are they?

   3. Do you know anyone that has had a clot? [PROBE: what happened?]

   4. What can you tell me about Deep Vein Thrombosis, also sometimes called DVT?

      • Who is most at risk for DVT?

      • What can cause it to develop?

      • What are the symptoms?

      • Is DVT preventable?

      • Is it treatable?

      • How did you first hear about it?

   5. How about pulmonary embolism, or PE?

      • Who is most at risk for PE?

      • What do you think can cause it to develop?

      • What are the symptoms?

      • Are pulmonary embolisms preventable?

      • Is it treatable?

      • How did you first hear about it?

   6. Do you feel that you are personally at risk for DVT or pulmonary embolism?

• Tell me some reasons for that.

• Have you personally ever taken steps to protect yourself from DVT or PE?

4. Message review [20 minutes)

Let’s watch a couple of ads about DVT. Let’s watch one, we’ll talk about it, and then we’ll watch the next one.

[SHOW PSAs, ROTATING ORDER]

[ASK QUESTION SERIES AFTER VIEWING EACH PSA]

1. Reactions?

• What’s the main message here?

2. Was anything here new information for you? What was new?

3. Is what the ad is saying true?

4. Who do you think is at risk for DVT?

5. What do you think of the spokesperson?

• Is she/he believable? What makes her/him believable/not believable?

6. What, if anything, is the ad asking you to do?

• How likely is it you would do that?

5. Motivators – (Information needs, response to increased awareness, fear factors) [20 minutes]

   1. Here is a fact sheet with some more information about DVT. We’ll go through the sections one at a time, and as I read, please underline anything that stands out as particularly important or interesting to you. [MODERATOR READ INTRO ALOUD]

[DISTRIBUTE FACT SHEET]

2. Let’s look at the risk factors. [MODERATOR READ SECTION ALOUD]

   • What do you think about these?

   • What would you do if you had factors that increased your risk?

3. Now let’s look at the symptoms. [MODERATOR READ SECTION ALOUD]

   • If you experienced symptoms like these, would it be clear to you that something wasn’t right?

   • If you experienced some of these symptoms, what would you do? [Probe: call your doctor, rest, take OTC medications, nothing?]

4. Now let’s look at prevention. [MODERATOR READ SECTION ALOUD]

   • Are the steps that are recommended to prevent DVT easy or difficult to do?

   • What steps would you take to prevent it from happening to you?

5. Thinking about what we’ve just read, how much of this was new information?

6. What stood out to you, what did you underline? [BRIEF]

7. Does knowing the facts change how you view DVT? What changed?

   • Having read this, does DVT seem more or less serious to you? What are some reasons for that?

8. What information about DVT most motivates you to do something?

[PROBES]

• Statistics: each year 300,000 die, 2 million get DVT.

  1. There’s some disagreement about those numbers. Some others (CDC) say each year 100,000 die, 300,000-600,000 people get DVT. Does that change things?

  2. Another way to describe the size numbers by comparing to other conditions. If I were to say that every year DVT kills more people than breast cancer, does that change things?

• risk factors for PE

• simple prevention actions

• another’s person’s experience

6. Communication (Channels, messengers, and timing) [15 minutes]

Now I’d like to spend a little bit of time talking about how to communicate information about DVT/PE.

1. What organizations would you trust to provide you with health information about DVT/PE?

• [PROBES] CDC/government, churches, media, doctors/HMOs, pharmaceutical companies, organizations like the March of Dimes

• What websites would you trust?

2. Who would be good spokespeople to talk about DVT/PE?

[PROBES]

• Celebrities

• Politicians

• Athletes

• Regular people

1. Would it be motivating if the message came from someone who could tell a personal story about DVT? Why or why not?

2. When would you want to receive information about DVT/PE?

[PROBES]

• Older Adult Group: routine office visits, social activities, visiting with family, watching television, reading newspapers or magazines…

• Hospital Group: during registration, bedside by provider before surgery or treatment, discharge…

5. Are there some places in particular that you would be most likely to notice and pay attention to messages about DVT/PE? [PROBE FOR EXAMPLES]

6. What would be the most effective way or format to provide information about DVT/PE? [Probes: Video, pamphlets, internet, community meetings, television, flyers, billboards]

7. What factors are most likely to persuade you to make a decision to take steps to prevent DVT/PE?

[PROBES]

• Who it comes from?

• How you found out about it?

• Knowing risk factors and symptoms?

7. Closing [5 minutes]

   1. Thanks for coming out today. I just have one final question before I let you go. Think back over the discussion we’ve just had. Let’s go around the table and say one thing you’ve learned or would tell someone like yourself about DVT/PE.

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