Providing Insight into how the Safer Sex Intervention Works: Understanding Experiences of Youth and Health Educators

Form Approved

OMB No. 0990-0421

Exp. Date 07/03/2017

Hennepin County

Providing Insight into how the Safer Sex Intervention Works:

Focus Group Discussion Guide for Use with Health Educators

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Instructions: Health educators may not participate in the focus group if the consent form is not signed and submitted. Consent forms will be collected and stored, but identifying information on participants will not be collected during the focus group discussion. Introduce yourself, explain your role, purpose of the focus group, ground rules for discussion, and review information (e.g., risks & benefits, confidentiality) contained in the Consent Form.

Icebreaker/introductions:

A: Training for SSI: We would like to understand how the training to deliver SSI could be more effective, what would help health educators do their job better.

Probes:Can you think a bit about motivational interviewing – how long did it take to be comfortable doing it? Would additional training or a different type of training have been helpful? Were there times when you felt you weren’t reaching the person you were trying to help?

B: Locating clients on the Wheel of Change: It’s clear from the notes that health educators made, that clients were at several different stages on the Wheel of Change when they started. How did you locate them on the Wheel of Change?

Probes: What kinds of questions did you ask? If they were in the determination or action stage, how did you proceed? Was the Wheel of Change a useful tool for you?

C: Balancing Motivational Interviewing with Providing Information: Many of the young women you saw already knew much of the information you were required to provide. Did you review the information anyway, or skip some?

Probes: Was there information that everyone already had? Areas where most clients were misinformed or ignorant of the facts?

D. Supporting the Change Process: What do you think helped your clients move to the next stage?

Probes: Was it the personal interaction? The information you gave them? Their own internal processes – reflection, decision-making? What were the characteristics of young women who were most open/receptive to SSI’s messages about risk avoidance? Where were they on the Wheel of Change? Were there young women you felt were not receptive? What characterized them? What do you think prevented them from moving to change their behavior.

E. Booster Sessions: We would like your views on the usefulness of the booster sessions

Probes: How did you use the booster sessions? Do you think they were an important part of the intervention?

Abt Associates Inc. Safer Sex Intervention: Focus Group Discussion Guide for Use with Health Educators