Dr Lisa Ballard presented a poster at the Division of Health Psychology Conference in Bristol.

Title: Lessons learned using focus group discussions to explore the use of routinely collected health data for learning

Objectives: The primary objective of this paper is to convey ‘lessons learnt’ regarding the exploration of complex health topics of which people have little previous knowledge. The main research aim was to explore stakeholder views regarding their health data being routinely available for research and learning purposes.

Design: A qualitative research design was used to conduct online focus group discussions (FGD). FGDs were chosen to sample a diverse range of people quickly and to explore discussion between participants.

Methods: Twenty-nine participants (21 women) between 19-77 years-of-age (mean 33 years-of-age) were recruited through social media adverts and snowball sampling. Participants took part in six FGDs which were structured using a topic guide and vignettes to communicate concepts; transcripts were analysed thematically.

Results: Despite our team’s experience, deliberating extensively regarding the content of the topic guide and several iterations after each FGD, the data were unable to meet our research aim. Participants often had strong, polarised views regarding privacy and security that prevented nuanced discussion and data saturation was quickly reached.

Conclusions: Online FGDs are not an effective method to explore complicated topics with which participants may have limited previous experience. In addition, our online FGDs did not attract participants from under-served groups. Therefore, we have developed an innovative new approach, which includes non-digital methods to engage with a broader sample; public consultation; space for science communication and for participants to form opinions; as well as creative methods of collecting views and opinions i.e., story/comic strip completion.