Act Early Parent Focus Group Moderator's Guide

Attachment 7 Act Early Parent Focus Group Moderator’s Guide Form Approved

OMB NO. 0920-XXXX

Exp. Date: xx/xx/xxxx

Attachment 7

Act Early Parent Focus Group Moderator’s Guide

1. Introduction (10 minutes)

1. THANK RESPONDENTS FOR ATTENDING, BRIEFLY INTRODUCE SELF.

2. GROUND RULES

• PRIVACY

• HONESTY/OK TO DISAGREE

• TAPING/TWO-WAY MIRROR

• SPEAKING ONE AT A TIME

• RESTROOM

• ETC.

3. [GO AROUND THE ROOM AND ASK RESPONDENTS TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES] Can you please tell me your first name and the names and ages of your children?

As you can see from going around the room, everyone here is a parent and has at least one young child. The reason we’ve brought you here today is to show you some materials that have been developed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) as part of their “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” campaign to help parents better understand the development of their young children. We want to get your honest opinions and feedback on what you think of these materials.

2. Materials Testing (45 minutes)

Here are some draft materials that have been developed for the “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” campaign. Please take a few minutes to review the materials.

[NOTE TO MODERATOR: SWITCH ORDER THAT MATERIALS ARE PRESENTED TO EACH GROUP.]

[NOTE TO MODERATOR: PRESENT BROCHURE AND ALLOW UP TO 5 MINUTES FOR PARTICIPANT REVIEW.]

Now that you’ve all had a few minutes to look at the brochure, I’d like to ask you a few questions about it.

• Brochure questions

1. In your opinion, what is the brochure about?

• PROBE: Is the information in the brochure easy or difficult to understand? What makes it easy or difficult to understand? Are there any words or phrases that don’t make sense?

• PROBE: What is the brochure trying to get you to do?

2. A key message in the brochure you just reviewed is the idea of acting early that is, paying attention to your children’s development and doing something right way if you have concerns. Did you notice any “Act Early” messages in the brochure? Where did you find them?

• PROBE: Is the “Act Early” message easy to find? Did it catch your attention? Why or why not? If no, is there some place different you’d put these messages, to make them more eye-catching?

• Is the “Act Early” message easy to understand? Why or why not?

• Does the message motivate you to “Act Early” if you have a concern about your child?

• If so, what about the message do you find motivating? Are there particular words that you found particularly motivating? (i.e., “Don’t wait. Acting early could make a real difference.” “You know your child best,” “It’s never too late,” etc.?)

• Was anyone NOT particularly motivated to act after reading the message? If yes, what could be changed to make it more motivating?

• PROBE: Do you need additional information, beyond what’s found in the brochure, to know what to do next if you have a concern?

3. If you saw this brochure in the doctor’s office, would you pick it up and read it? Why or why not?

• PROBE: What could be done to make it more appealing, to encourage parents to pick it up and read it? (i.e., change the title, color, size, shape, length, etc.?)

• PROBE: Are there any other changes or improvements you’d recommend, such as changes to the wording or phrases?

[NOTE TO MODERATOR: PRESENT BOOKLET AND ALLOW UP TO 5 MINUTES FOR PARTICIPANT REVIEW.]

Next, I’d like to ask you a few questions about the booklet.

• Booklet questions

4. In your opinion, what is the booklet about?

• PROBE: Is the information in the booklet easy or difficult to understand? What makes it easy or difficult to understand? Are there any words or phrases that don’t make sense?

• PROBE: What is the booklet trying to get you to do?

5. A key message in the booklet you just reviewed is the idea of acting early, that is, paying attention to your children’s development and doing something right way if you have concerns. Did you notice any “Act Early” messages in the booklet? Where did you find them?

• PROBE: Is the “Act Early” message easy to find? Did it catch your attention? Why or why not? If no, is there some place different you’d put these messages, to make them more eye-catching?

• PROBE: Is the “Act Early” message easy to understand? Why or why not?

• PROBE: Does the booklet motivate you to “Act Early” if you have a concern about your child? What about the booklet do you find motivating? Are there particular words that you found particularly motivating? Images?

• PROBE: Were any of you not particularly motivated to act after viewing the booklet? If yes, what could be changed to make it more motivating?

• PROBE: Do you need additional information, beyond what’s found in the booklet, to know what to do next if you have a concern?

6. If you saw this booklet in the doctor’s office, would you pick it up and read it? Why or why not?

• PROBE: Would you read the entire booklet? If not, what parts would you be most likely to read? How would you decide which parts to read, and which parts you wouldn’t?

• PROBE: What could be done to make it more appealing, to encourage parents to pick it up and read it? (i.e., change the title, color, size, shape, length, etc.?

• PROBE: Are there any other changes or improvements you’d recommend, such as changes to the wording or phrases?

Now I’d like to spend just a few short minutes talking about a developmental milestones checklist CDC has developed.

[NOTE TO MODERATOR: PRESENT CHECKLIST AND ALLOW UP TO 5 MINUTES FOR PARTICIPANT REVIEW.]

You probably noticed that it contains much of the same material as the booklet, and we’re not going to cover that material again. We’re going to talk about your reactions that are specific to the checklist.

• Checklist questions

7. Did you notice any “Act Early” messages in the checklist? Where did you find them?

• PROBE: Is the “Act Early” message easy to find? Did it catch your attention? Why or why not? If no, is there some place different you’d put these messages, to make them more eye-catching?

8. What do you like about the checklist?

• PROBE: What do you think about how the checklist looks? The pictures? The way the material is presented?

9. Is there anything you don’t like about the checklist, or anything you would change? If so, what?

3. Conclusion (5 minutes)

10. Thinking about CDC’s goal (to encourage parents to act early), do you have any other suggestions or comments for improving these materials, beyond what we’ve already discussed? Any questions?

Thank you for being here today and participating! Your responses have been very helpful.

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