Focus Groups in the Design of Prostate Cancer Screening Information for Hispanic Farmworkers and African American Men

Cathy D. Meade

Arlene Calvo

Marlene A. Rivera

Roberta D. Baer

ONF 2003, 30(6), 967-975. DOI: 10.1188/03.ONF.967-975

Purpose/Objectives: To gain a better understanding of men's everyday concerns as part of formative research for creating relevant prostate cancer screening education; to describe methods and processes used to conduct community-based focus groups.

Setting: Community-based settings in catchment areas surrounding Tampa, FL.

Sample: 8 community-based focus groups: a total of 71 Hispanic farmworkers and African American men.

Methods: Focus group discussions were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for identification of emergent themes.

Main Research Variables: General life and health priorities, prostate cancer knowledge, screening attitudes, cancer beliefs, and learning preferences.

Findings: Major themes among African American men were importance of work, family, and faith. Major themes among Hispanic farmworkers were importance of family, employment, education of children, and faith. A common issue that surfaced among most men was that a cancer diagnosis was considered to be a death sentence. Preferred learning methods included use of cancer survivors as spokespeople, interactive group education, and the provision of easy-to-understand information. Issues of trust, respect, and community involvement were key to the successful conduct of focus groups among ethnically diverse groups.

Conclusions: Study findings have important implications for the content of information developed for prostate cancer education materials and media.

Implications for Nursing: Insights gained from focus group methodology can help nurses and other healthcare professionals design and develop appropriate prostate cancer education tools for use in community-based prostate cancer screening programs.

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