Methodological challenges in the use of focus groups with people with severe mental illness

Abstract

This study addresses the practical, methodological and ethical challenges that were found in three studies that used focus groups with people with severe mental illness, in the context of community mental health services in Brazil. Focus groups are a powerful tool in health research that need to be better discussed in research with people with severe mental illness, in the context of community mental health facilities. This study is based on the authors' experience of conducting and analyzing focus groups in three different cities - Campinas, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador - between 2006-2010. The implementation of focus groups with people with severe mental illness is discussed in the following categories; planning, group design, sampling, recruitment, group interview guides, and conduction. The importance of connecting mental healthcare providers as part of the research context is emphasized. Ethical issues and challenges are highlighted, as well as the establishment of a sensitive and empathic group atmosphere, wherein mutual respect can facilitate interpersonal relations and enable people diagnosed with severe mental illness to make sense of the experience. We emphasize the relevance of the interaction between clinical and research teams in order to create collaborative work, achieve inquiry aims, and elicit narratives of mental health users and professionals.

Australian employment services: Help or hindrance in the achievement of mutual obligation?

“…Focus groups are a useful method of data gathering (Creswell & Poth 2017; Onocko‐Campos et al 2017) with groups who may have not had the opportunity to have their say on issues that are important to them. Additionally, Fossey et al (2002) and Minichiello et al (2008) suggest that focus groups are useful in facilitating interaction among participants who share common experiences.…”

O uso de triangulação múltipla como estratégia de validação em um estudo qualitativo

“…The technique configures an environment that allows the debate and in-depth discussion of research themes, but, above all, allows the knowledge and understanding of the research subjects' experiences and the meanings assigned by these subjects to the studied object 18 . The questions raised by researchers can stir narratives and reflections about the disease-well-being process and culminate in new meanings of the experience itself 19 .…”

Enhancing Service Provision for Immigrant Families Experiencing Domestic Violence through Partnerships between Mainstream Service Providers and Cultural Brokers

“…A qualitative research design using focus group interviews with cultural brokers was selected as the most appropriate method for conducting this study. The mutual support from others in the group who have shared similar experiences with service providers from Children's Services and immigrant families and the possibility of a more open discussion relating to potential problems with the partnership are benefits of this form of data collection [41].…”