Key Informant Interview Guide_PH/MH Agency Staff

OMB Control No: 0920-xxxx

Expiration Date: xx/xx/xxxx

Attachment E: Key Informant Interview Guide_ PH/MH Agency Staff

Public reporting burden of this collection of information is estimated to average 25 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to CDC/ATSDR Information Collection Review Office; 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS D-74, Atlanta, Georgia 30333; ATTN:  PRA (0920-xxxx)

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this study funded by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to examine how organizations in your community have responded to disasters. Today I am going to ask you to share your thoughts about the 2011 tornado super outbreak. Our goal for this project is to better understand how communities prepare for and recover from disasters, especially in terms of public health and mental health. Our intention is not to judge what has been done or to provide courses of action for the future. We are simply here to learn from your experiences.

First I would like to take a moment to read over the consent form. [Hand the consent form to respondent. Give them ample time to read the consent form.]

As noted in the consent form, your participation in this interview is voluntary. You may skip any question you do not wish to answer and your participation and responses to the questions are confidential. Before we begin, do you have any questions about the consent form or the interview?

[Answer respondent’s questions. If respondent no longer wishes to be interviewed, thank him or her for her time and terminate the conversation. If the respondent has no questions or once his or her questions are answered satisfactorily you may proceed.]

Do you agree to be interviewed and to have the interview be recorded? If you agree, please sign here on the consent form. As a reminder, your consent form with your signature will not be linked to this interview.

[Allow the respondent to answer. If respondent no longer wishes to be interviewed, thank him or her for her time and terminate the conversation. If the respondent agrees to be interviewed but DOES NOT want to be recorded, you may proceed with the interview and have the observer take notes.]

First I want to collect some basic information from you. As we discussed during the consent process, your name will never be linked to what we talk about today. Please fill out this form and let me know if you have any questions [Hand demographic form to respondent.]

Note to Interviewer: The listed probes are suggestions to help you flesh out participants’ responses. Not all probes will be relevant to all participants however please touch on each probe topic to ensure consistent data are collected across all respondents.

Q1. What was the relationship between public health (PH) and mental health (MH) before the April 2011 tornadoes?

• Did PH/MH work together in any capacity? If so, how? If not, why?

• Was there a formal (or informal) relationship? What did this entail?

• Describe communication between PH and MH (good, bad, frequent, infrequent, etc.).

Q2. How did the relationship between PH and MH change during and after the April 2011 tornadoes?

Q3. What role did PH/MH play in the development of the jurisdictional Emergency Operations Plan [check on the “official” terminology within each jurisdiction and replace with the name of the local plan]?

• How much of the response that happened during and after the tornado followed the jurisdictional Emergency Operations Plan?

Q4. What specific PH/MH services were provided to the community during and after the April 2011 tornadoes?

• What services were provided by your agency/organization?

• What services were provided by other agencies/organizations?

• What services do you wish had been offered?

• If not already addressed: Were any specific MH services provided after the tornado? If so, what?

• Please describe the availability of resources to address mental health needs after the tornados. Who were key players/providers?

• How can your agency better address the mental health concerns in your community in the future?

Q5. Who have been your key partners in the community to provide critical PH/MH services during and after April 2011 tornadoes?

• What do those partners do?

• Which partnerships were established prior to the tornado? Which ones evolved during response or recovery?

• What was particularly successful about these partnerships? What challenges arose?

• How were partnerships solidified? (MOU, handshake, letter of agreement, contract, etc.)

• Describe communication with partners during response/recovery (good, bad, frequent, infrequent, etc.).

Q6. Did you partner with faith-based, volunteer and/or community-based organizations to provide PH/MH services? If so, which organizations did you partner with?

• What do those partners do?

• Which partnerships were established prior to the tornado? Which ones evolved during response or recovery?

• What was particularly successful about these partnerships? What challenges arose?

• How were partnerships solidified? (MOU, handshake, letter of agreement, contract, etc.)

• Describe communication with partners during response/recovery (good, bad, frequent, infrequent, etc.).

Great. Thank you. I would like to end the interview by asking you to reflect on the last few years.

Q7. In your opinion, to what extent do you think that the community has recovered from the tornado outbreak of April 2011?

• What does “good” recovery look like?

• What are the markers/indicators of recovery?

• What populations, if any, are still recovering now?

Q8. Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently?

Thank you for your time and insights into these important issues. To wrap up the interview, we would like to collect some demographic information from you.

Q9. What advice would you give other communities that are coping with disasters?

Participant ID #: ____________

1. How many years have you lived in {insert name of county/city of interest}? ___________________

2. Do you consider {insert name of county/city of interest} to be your home town?

• YES

• NO

3. How many years have you been in your current position? ______________________

4. [For PH/MH respondents only] How many years have you been in the field of public health and/or mental health? _________________

5. [For community respondents only] Which community sector do you represent?

• Business

• Community leadership

• Cultural and faith-based groups

• Emergency management

• Healthcare

• Social services

• Housing and sheltering

• Media

• Mental/behavioral health

• Public Health

• Senior Services

• Education and childcare settings

• Other – please specify ____________________________________

6. What is your age?

_ _ Age in years

Don‘t know / Not sure

Refused

7. What is your gender?

Male

Female

8. Which one of these groups would you say represents your race? (Select all that apply)

American Indian or Alaska Native

Asian

Black or African American

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

White

Respondent provides category of race not listed above

Don‘t know / Not sure

Refused

9. Are you Hispanic or Latino?

Yes

No

Don‘t know / Not sure

Refused

10. What is the highest level of education you’ve completed? ___________________

PH/MH Respondents: Draft Interview Guide v3.26.13 Page 5 of 5