Focus Groups and Mental Health

Paper Summary:

This paper presents an examination of focus groups and their impact and use with mental health issues. The paper explores how to organize a focus group and goes on to discuss past focus groups in the mental health field and the outcome of their use.

Outline:
Introduction
Focus Groups
Mental Health Focus Groups
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Before one can begin to understand the importance and impact that focus groups have in the field of mental health one must understand focus groups in general. A focus group is a group of participants that have a stake in the topic at hand. Using newspapers as an example a focus group would be comprised of average readers. Some would be housewives, some would be business people and some would be politicians or movers and shakers that re typically in the news. The focus group is given a set of questions and they sit together with the newspaper editors, writers or management and discuss the questions in depth. Out of this discussion the newspaper draws key concepts and themes to later evaluate for possible use. One is organized by contacting members who are asked to be involved. A list of questions is prepared. The questions are generated by issues that the business is interested in studying or developing. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• From the ground up: collaborative research in child and adolescent mental health services.Families, Systems & Health; 12/22/2003; Wood, Andrew
• Blamed and Ashamed: The Treatment Experiences of Youth With Co-occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders and Their Familieshttp://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/KEN02-0129/conducted.asp
• Allison, S., Roeger, L., Dadds, V., Wood, A., & Martin, G. (1999). Much briefer assessments of children and adolescents. Australasian Psychiatry, 7(6), 338-340.
• Bowl, R. (1996). Involving service users in mental health services: Social Services Departments and the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990. Journal of Mental Health, 5(3), 287-303.
• Byas, A., Hills, D., Meech, C. Read, L., Stacey, K., Thompson, E., & Wood, A. (2002). Co-researching consumer experiences of child and adolescent mental health services: Reflections and implications. Families, Systems & Health, 20(1), 75-89.

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