Focus Group Interview Guide
Interview Guide
- Introduction:
Note – as participants are entering the room, we will hand them an index card with the following directions: “Please write down 3 to 5 phrases describing what excellent health means to you.”
Thank you all for coming today to participate in this focus group. My name, again, is Christina Nicolaidis. I am a physician at OHSU and the principle investigator for this study. This is ______, my research assistant. She is a graduate student at OHSU and will be helping me take notes and facilitate the session.
- Ground Rules:
Before we start, I wanted to review some basic ground rules. We will be talking about some topics that may feel very personal. As such:
Please remember that you do not need to answer any questions that make you feel uncomfortable. If you become upset during the discussion, it is o.k. to step out of the room. Please try to stay in the building so that I or my research assistant can go check to make sure you are o.k.
Please try to respect others’ confidentiality. What is said in this room today should stay in this room. Please do not discuss information you learn about other people to anyone else. Of course, we encourage you to discuss your own situation with your health care provider or others who may provide you support.
Please respect that other women may have different opinions and experiences than you. We are interested in hearing about all of your opinions. Feel free to express your disagreement with what others may say, but do so in a respectful manner without putting down or discounting anyone.
We have quite a lot of material to cover in this session. As facilitators, we may need to move the discussion along in order to hear from everyone and get to all of the topics we want to cover. We apologize in advance in case we do move onto another topic before you are through expressing your ideas, and hope you will understand that that does not mean what you have to say is not important or interesting.
Before we begin, does anyone have any questions about the focus group process?
- Focus group questions:
1)Let’s go around the room. Please tell us either your real first name or a made-up a name you would like us to call you during this group session. Also say how long you have been coming to the OHSU internal medicine clinic.
2)As you were checking in today, we asked you to write down three to five phrases describing your vision of excellent health. Please tell us about one thing on your list.
3)Compared to your vision of excellent health, what bothers you most about your own health?
4)Now let’s talk specifically about mental health. Give me some examples of what you consider to be a part of metal health.
5)Do you feel that your physical and mental health are related to each other? Please give an example of how they may or may not be related.
6)Everyone here has experienced some form of violence from an intimate partner. How do you feel those experiences have influenced your mental health or physical symptoms?
7)What comes to mind when you hear the word “Depression”?
8)Everyone in this group has had at least some mild depressive symptoms, but you may or may not have been diagnosed by a health care provider as having “Depression”. What did it or what would it mean to you to be diagnosed as having depression?
9) Some of you may or may not have been prescribed antidepressant medications. How do you feel about antidepressants?
10)Similarly, some of you may or may not have been referred to a mental health provider. How do you feel about seeing a mental health provider?
11)As you know, we are trying to design a program within the internal medicine clinic to help women who have symptoms of depression along with other physical symptoms. What do you think should be included in such a program?
12)One of our ideas is to include group cognitive-behavioral therapy sessions as part of that program. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a technique that helps people improve their physical and psychological symptoms. It teaches participants positive ways to cope with their stress, as well as ways to change their thinking and behavior. What do you think about the idea of a group cognitive-behavioral therapy program?
13)What would it take for you to participate in such a group?
14)Another idea is to have a group program focusing on healthy lifestyle choices. Women would work in small groups to motivate each other to improve their nutrition and exercise habits. Women would also be given memberships to the OHSU fitness center and encouraged to exercise there at least three times per week. What do you think about the idea of a group focusing on exercise and nutrition?
15)What would it take for you to participate in such a group?
16)Another idea is to have a care manager help women out by keeping in close touch with them, coordinating their different visits, checking up on how they are responding to medications, and making sure that they know about other resources that they may be of use to them. What would you think about having a care manager work with you?
17)Do you have other ideas of what we should include in a program aimed to help women who have depressive symptoms and other physical complaints?
18)We have covered a lot today. Before we end, I would like to go around the room and have each of you tell me the one most important thing I should tell the providers in the Internal Medicine Clinic about treating women with depressive symptoms.
19)Facilitator will give a short summary (2-3 minutes) of the key issues discussed. Then she will ask… Is this an adequate summary? How well does that capture what was said here?
Wrap up:
Thank you again very much for participating in this group tonight. Again, please remember to respect others’ confidentiality and don’t repeat what you heard here today. If you have any questions for me or the other investigators, feel free to contact us using the information provided on your information sheet. Also feel free to contact our clinic social worker, Debbie Hanawalt, or any of the other resources listed on your sheet.