1. Using focus groups to explore older people's attitudes to end of life care
- Author
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Seymour, Jane, Bellamy, Gary, Gott, Merryn, Ahmedzai, Sam H., and Clark, David
- Subjects
Aging -- Social aspects ,Aged -- Social aspects ,Health care industry -- Innovations ,Terminal care -- Innovations ,Focus groups -- Ethical aspects ,Medical equipment -- Usage ,Social science research -- Ethical aspects ,Health ,Psychology and mental health ,Seniors ,Sociology and social work - Abstract
This paper reports on the methodological and ethical issues that were encountered when using focus groups to explore older people's knowledge, beliefs and risk perceptions about the use of innovative health technologies in end of life care. Older people drawn from community organisations in Sheffield, England, took part in discussions about the application of `life prolonging' and `comfort care' technologies during serious illness and impending death. The paper offers a reflective account of the management of recruitment and informed consent, and of the issues that arose when facilitating group discussions of potentially distressing material. It concludes with a brief account of the steps that were taken to enhance the `credibility' of the data. KEY WORDS--focus groups, qualitative research, methodology, end-of-life care, attitudes, research ethics.
- Published
- 2002