Description of Focus Group Work

Focus group work on breast cancer:

six groups of 8-10 women each will convene,

each for two hours, to discuss issues related to breast cancer

awareness, and to evaluate educational material

on breast cancer. Discussion will be guided by a moderator, and audio-recorded.

The identity of focus group participants will be kept strictly confidential, and the

results reported in such a way that none of the individuals can be identified.

Focus group discussions will be transcribed and content analyzed to extract the

essential information. Goals of the focus groups are:

1. To select educational material that is most appropriate and effective

2. To identify barriers to screening

3. To discuss possible ways of overcoming such barriers

The groups will re-convene a few weeks after the first meeting

 for an evening of art at The Mad Platter, where

participants will have the opportunity to paint a tile each, and all together we

will paint a large object (a vase, or a platter). This event, sponsored

in part by The Mad Platter, will provide us

with an opportunity to inform the participants about the

ideas and concept generated by the focus group discussions.

Focus group discussions will guide us in the selection of the brochures

to use for further outreach work and provide ideas on approaches that

might work to increase women's participation in breast cancer screening.