USE OF FOCUS GROUP METHODOLOGY TO DEVELOP AN ASTHMA SELF-MANAGEMENT PROGRAM USEFUL FOR COMMUNITY-BASED MEDICAL PRACTICES

Health education programs developed in academic medical centers are no t optimally disseminated to community clinical settings. Strategies ar e needed to translate the findings of research on health education pro grams into programs useful in a wide range of health care settings. Fo cus group techniques were used to provide data for revising a successf ul university-based asthma self-management program to make it more pra ctical for use by community physicians. Physicians representing a vari ety of specialties attended the sessions and provided feedback on the utility of various components of the original program. The discussions revealed that many physicians felt they did not have the time or reso urces to conduct the original program and identified elements viewed a s impractical. This physician input contributed significantly to the d evelopment of a revised program with a briefer, less costly interventi on. The revised program was later evaluated by focus group participant s. Eighty-eight percent of those who evaluated the revised program agr eed they would be able and willing to use the program in their own pra ctices. As a formative evaluation tool, the focus group technique made available useful information that would have been difficult to obtain through evaluation forms alone.