Protocol Summary

ATTACHMENT A: Protocol Summary

CDC/NCEZID/HCSO Evaluation of Emergency Preparedness Materials for Limited English Proficient Spanish-Speakers

(Focus Group)

Goal:

Discuss materials that CDC developed and translated into Spanish to inform the public of appropriate actions to take in the case of an anthrax emergency and determine the relative value of those materials to Spanish-speaking persons with limited English proficiency (LEP).

Objectives:

• Determine whether participants understand the intended messages in the materials.

• Evaluate the extent to which messages and visuals are relevant, culturally appropriate, comprehensible, credible, and appealing, and the extent to which they would motivate desired actions during an emergency.

• Inform the AMT Health Communication Team on the best practices for communicating important emergency preparedness information to LEP populations.

• Identify additional knowledge gaps and modalities for disseminating emergency preparedness and risk communication materials for LEP populations.

Target Audience: The target audience for this research includes LEP Spanish-speakers. The focus groups will be divided into the following three audience segments:

• Parents/expectant parents of children 12 years of age and younger

• Adults 40-59 years of age

• Adults 60 years of age and older

Selected Materials:

CDC’s Anthrax Management Team has developed five groups of pictograms and corresponding messages to test with LEP Spanish-speakers. Once refined based on participant feedback, these materials will be used to create additional emergency preparedness materials to be utilized during an anthrax emergency. These materials cover the following main concepts:

• Anthrax can be deadly and antibiotics can save lives.

• The media will inform the public of where to go to obtain free antibiotics.

• Anthrax is not contagious.

• Antibiotic dosing and compliance information for the public.

• Anthrax vaccine dosing and compliance information for the public.

OMB Approval:

CDC will seek OMB approval through its existing broad-based agency approval for message testing [Health Message Testing System (HMTS)]. CDC is encouraged to use questions from a preapproved question bank in developing data collection instruments. Questions from the preapproved question bank will focus on the following areas:

• Introductory Questions

• Comprehension

• Initial Impressions

• Content and Wording

• Comparison of Concepts/Messages/Materials

• Testing Images/Visuals/Illustrations

Methodology:

Information will be collected from 150 LEP Spanish-speaking respondents in a total of 15 focus group discussions. Twelve focus groups will be conducted in two major metropolitan cities with large Hispanic populations, (e.g., San Diego, California, and Miami, Florida). Three focus groups will be conducted in the Knoxville, Tennessee, area.

Each focus group will have between 8 and 10 participants and is expected to last about two hours. A moderator will guide the discussion of the focus groups. The focus groups will be conducted in Spanish.

The focus groups will be audio-recorded and transcripts will be prepared from these recordings; transcripts will be translated into English. Interested observers from CDC may choose to attend focus groups in person or view them with live video-streaming technology.

Attachment A: Protocol Summary 3