ANONYMIZED FOCUS GROUPS AS A RESEARCH TOOL FOR HEALTH-PROFESSIONALS

An anonymized telephone-based focus group (AFoG) methodology was desig ned for studies examining family physicians' attitudes to social and s exual contact between family physicians and their patients. The method adapts the traditional focus group approach as a means of exploring a sensitive family practice topic while concealing participants' identi ties. Using this method, a safe environment can be created in which pa rticipants are able to freely discuss the issues. In the example given , the method resulted in a significant contribution to the research. P articipants expressed positive comments about the experience.