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Family Practice Vol. 16, No. 5, 539-541
© Oxford University Press 1999

Selections from current literature

Selections from current literature: focus group technique in chronic illness

Jeffrey S Trilling

Associate Professor and Acting Chair, Department of Family Medicine, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.

Introduction

This topic is chosen for its potential use as a facilitator of change in a growing population of patients with chronic illnesses for which they receive inadequate care. Patients with chronic diseases are often characterized as ‘difficult’ because of non-compliance, ‘doctor-shopping’ and over-utilization of medical services. These characterizations, combined with patient–physician communication problems, differences in attribution models, disease treated out of context of family, and lifestyle result in frustration and anger in both physician and patient. In this review, I define focus groups, illustrate their use, as reported by several authors, and relate my own experience with groups to facilitate changes in patients with chronic illness.

Defining focus groups

Investigators using qualitative methods use focus groups to explore opinions, knowledge, perceptions and concerns about a particular topic. The composition of focus groups varies but they generally comprise six to 10 persons, with knowledge in a given subject, or with common interests or activities. . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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