CONSULTING ABOUT PRIORITIES FOR THE NHMRC NATIONAL BREAST-CANCER CENTER - HOW GOOD IS THE NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE

The National Health and Medical Research Council National Breast Cance r Centre was established to improve outcomes for women by reviewing th e literature, developing best practice guidelines and resources and de veloping a national monitoring system. Its broad terms of reference me ant that it Was important at the outset to identify priorities for act ion. The Centre used a national consultative process based on nominal groups to identify priorities. Thirteen consultative workshops were he ld with over 300 participants including women diagnosed with breast ca ncer, some of their families and health professionals. There was a hig h level of agreement between workshops in priorities identified, indic ating that the nominal group process results in reliable data. A subsa mple of participants surveyed after the workshops reported being highl y satisfied with their participation in the process. The findings indi cate that the nominal group process can be useful in selecting priorit ies for action in health.