This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Moody, L. E. Articles by Lowell, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Moody, L. E. Articles by Lowell, J. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Breathing Problems Caregivers Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

A focus group for caregivers of hospice patients with severe dyspnea

Nursing Informatics, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida

Mary Webb, PhD, RN

University of South Florida College of Nursing, Tampa, Florida

Robyn Cheung, PhD, RN

University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Janice Lowell, MPH, RN

LifePath Hospice, Tampa, Florida

The use of focus groups has grown in all aspects of our society, including the areas of politics and business. More recently, clinical research investigators have begun using focus groups to acquire important information from potential study subjects, such as patients and caregivers. Researchers use focus groups to help them design and test data collection measures, assess responses to proposed interventions, and obtain guidance on recruitment and retention methods for clinical trials. This report explains the basic requirements and methods for conducting focus groups. The authors conducted a focus group study based on six former caregivers of hospice patients with severe dyspnea. The paper describes the results of this study and illustrates how caregivers assisted in evaluating potential interventions for dyspnea, which will be tested in a future clinical trial. Subsequently, the researchers used the focus group data to adapt the guided-imagery intervention to the lifestyle and culture of the study subjects and their caregivers.

Key Words: focus group • caregivers • dyspnea • hospice • end of life

American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®, Vol. 21, No. 2, 121-130 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/104990910402100210


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?