Focus Group Process & Interviewing

Focus Groups Examples

An example of the application of a focus group would be, to understand the experiences of family members who have been present during the resuscitation of their loved ones. Having family members witness resuscitation has been shown to improve outcomes, through the utilization of the knowledge on patient history and increasing the cohesiveness of the resuscitation team while the family is present (Bader, Smith & Gillespie, 2023). Perceived benefits include the family getting to be a firsthand witness that everything was done in attempt to save their loved one (Bader, Smith & Gillespie, 2023). Utilizing a focus group in this scenario, can help to understand how families feel about being witness to such events and can help support the building of policies and procedures that improve family centered care. As well, the utilization of a focus group in this situation can help bridge the gap between the families and care teams expectations and definitions of success (Zacharia, Pai & Paul, 2021).

Another example of the application of a focus group is the work completed by Zacharia, Pai & Paul (2021). In this focus group, the participants were all patients who had Total Knee Replacements (TKR), after suffering with osteoarthritis. The goal of this work was to look at the patients’ perceived outcomes of the surgery. It had been recognized that there was gap of what was deemed a success for the patient versus the surgical team (Zacharia, Pai & Paul, 2021). To further understand how patients determined success and to get an deeper understanding of their perceptions a focus group was utilized to gather multiple perceptive, and understand the feelings of the participants post operatively.

Participant Selection

With regards to the witnessed resuscitations due to the sensitivity of this topic, the focus group participants would be found using on a voluntary basis, ideally with participants being greater then 1 year from the time of the event. The participants will not be based on race, age or sex, but instead their experiences that have drawn them together utilizing the purposeful sampling technique. This technique allows participates to be selected based on a shared circumstance (Palinkas et al. 2015).

For the TKA patient outcomes focus group, purposeful sampling was also used to select their group. In this focus group participants were selected based by focusing on members who were two years post operative. As well, were only diagnosed with osteoarthritis in the joint prior to surgery, thus excluding any other diagnoses (Zacharia, Pai & Paul, 2021).

Moderator Selection and Flow

Once the group has been identified, and a moderator has been selected. The group would meet ideally in person, to facilitate a conversation that is led by the moderator to understand the participants thoughts and feelings regarding their presence during the resuscitation attempt or postoperatively. The moderator must ensure an environment of psychological safety, making sure that the participants stay on topic. To do so, the moderator can explain expectations prior to the commencement of the focus group, including respectful language and fairness within the group setting.

Through the utilization of a touchstone, the moderators would help guide decision with the touch stone being their experiences and emotions in the moments of resuscitations and afterwards. The utilization of a touch stone can ensure that the focused group stays on track and focuses on a common topic (Katz-Buonincontro, 2022).

Questions to the group would include, the names and ages of the group members, their education level and a brief explanation of the experiences leading up to the resuscitation. For example, was this a sudden decline or prolonged.

The moderator would then probe into the emotions surrounding the experience, leaving the door open to discussion while also ensuring participates stay on track. Questions would continue to include do you remember a specific moment? How could your experience have been improved despite the outcome? And finally, any final thoughts regarding the topic.

Questions asked in the TKA group problems prior to the surgery, probing how life looked prior to making the decision for surgery and failed prior treatments (Zacharia, Pai & Paul, 2021). Then questions probing the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the participants including pain and return to activities/work (Zacharia, Pai & Paul, 2021).

The moderator must ensure that participants are engaged and watch body language. Using cues provided by the respondents such as nodding or silence the moderator can help to engage specific participants into the conversation using cues such as “You were (insert expression here), can you tell me your experience?”. As well moderators must ensure that breaks are taken, and the emotional needs of the participants are supported throughout the process (Katz-Buonincontro, 2022).

Example of Moderator Question Flow

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