Table 1 Focus group questions
Construct | Sample question |
|---|---|
General health | What health issues are you most concerned about, for yourself? |
What do we know about the causes of breast cancer? What have you heard? | |
What do women do to prevent breast cancer? | |
How do you find out if you have breast cancer? | |
What do you think is the most important thing women can do to detect breast cancer early? | |
If no one mentions mammograms, ask, “Have you heard about mammograms? What have you heard?” | |
Mammograms | When should you get your first mammogram? At what age? |
How often should you have a mammogram after that? | |
Who makes these recommendations? | |
Have you seen or heard anything recently about changes in these recommendations? | |
How did hearing or seeing this information make you feel? | |
Screening guidelines and changes in screening guidelines | What are your thoughts and concerns about these changes? |
Why do you think the guidelines changed? | |
What makes you think the guidelines changed because of < insert participants’ answer > ? (probe) | |
How does the change make you feel? | |
Do you think the guidelines will change again? Why or why not? | |
How would you feel if the guidelines changed again? | |
How do you think the change in the mammography screening guidelines will affect you? | |
Decision making | Think about a time when you had to make a health decision for yourself or some one in your family. Did you want to talk about it with your health care provider? |
What made you want to discuss it with your provider? | |
What did you want to know? | |
How did your provider respond? | |
How did you feel about that response? | |
What would have made that experience more successful for you? | |
Education | What do you think is the best way for women to learn about this issue, making decisions about mammograms? |
Probes: | |
From their providers | |
Health education materials (from where? Insurer?) | |
Provider? News outlets? Online? | |
Peer health leaders or navigators | |
What do you think are the 3 most important things women in their 40s need to know? |