Developing a Bioterrorism Preparedness Campaign for Veterans: Using Focus Groups to Inform Materials Development

¹ a risk communication specialist and researcher at the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center in the VA-New Jersey Health Care System in East Orange, New Jersey, and an assistant professor in the Health Education and Behavioral Sciences Department, School of Public Health at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Piscataway, New Jersey. She also runs a consultancy specializing in risk communication planning, implementation, training and evaluation in Medford, Massachusetts.
² a physician researcher at the VA-New Jersey Health Care System in East Orange, New Jersey, and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Medicine & Dentistry New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School in East Orange and Newark, New Jersey.
³ a clinical practitioner in internal medicine and researcher at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, in the Bronx, New York, where he worked since 1998. He was the principal researcher for this grant supported by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Health Services Research and Development Services (BT1-02-233). He also held an appointment as an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, New York.
⁴ an adjunct assistant professor in the Health Education Behavioral Sciences Department at the School of Public Health, University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey in Piscataway, New Jersey.
⁵ president of Political Risk Assessment Company, Inc. in Santa Monica, California.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ssantos.focusgroup{at}comcast.net.

	Abstract

In the context of a global war on terrorism experts have focused on the potential for a bioterrorist incident to cause widespread health and psychological consequences. Preparation is critical to improving the U.S. response to future bioterrorist incidents and educating the public is recognized as a vital part of this preparedness effort. Under a grant from the U.S. Veterans Health Administration (VHA), researchers from a network of VA health care and research facilities initiated a program to develop and evaluate educational materials for veterans--including those with mental illness. This article describes the results of a series of focus groups with three veteran subpopulations of interest to characterize their concerns and information needs and summarizes the insights gained that helped guide materials development.

Key Words: health education, bioterrorism preparedness, veterans’, education, mental health, focus groups, materials development

First published on June 27, 2006, doi:10.1177/1524839906289075

Health Promotion Practice 2007;8:31.

A more recent version of this article appeared on January 1, 2007


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