Using Focus Groups to Evaluate and Strengthen Public Health Nursing Population-Focused Interventions

Abstract

Nebraska Health Connection Access Medicaid's (NHC AM) public health nursing (PHN) population-focused practice model is designed to provide enrollment, education, and PHN case management interventions for the Medicaid Managed Care population. Evaluation and continuous improvement of these interventions are, in part, completed through a collaborative effort between NHC AM and a quality management team at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing. Focus group methodology was used to access non-English-speaking populations to evaluate and strengthen population-focused PHN interventions.

Literature review: considerations in undertaking focus group research with culturally and linguistically diverse groups

“…Recruitment of participants for focus groups is generally achieved through invitations targeted to people with specific characteristics, for example; mothers with newborn babies, nurses working in a particular clinical area, or general notices placed in specialty journals. In culturally and linguistically diverse groups, engagement of key community leaders likely plays an essential role in promoting participation by both enhancing the credibility of the research team and providing information about cultural sensitivities (Kaiser et al. 2002, Vissandjee et al.…”

Typology of High Users of Health Services Among a Rural Medicaid Population

“…This in turn suggests a need to reassess and perhaps better coordinate services that improve and address needs and ultimately contain cost. Since outcomes of public health nursing population‐focused practice should include appropriate utilization of care (Kaiser et al, 2002), identification of patterns of factors that suggest an at‐risk population is important for public health nursing. The goal of assessing and identifying high‐risk over‐users of health care services would not be gate‐keeping or to limit services, but rather based on an assessment of risk using the variables identified in this typology, public health nurses could assess and intervene by assisting families with better coordinated and more effective use of health care where warranted.…”

“…Public health nursing is defined as the promotion of health of populations using knowledge from nursing, social, and public health sciences (APHA and Public Health Nursing Section, 1996). According to Kaiser, Barry, and Kaiser's (2002) model, outcomes of public health nursing population‐focused practice include access to care and continuity of care. This model supports the importance of understanding high users of Medicaid services in order to accomplish appropriate and effective service use.…”

Participant Satisfaction Methods and Outcomes in Medicaid Managed Care

“…Those without telephone service were excluded from the telephone survey but were included in the random mail survey selection. Participants who had been enrolled long term in the program or who were non‐English speaking were assessed by other mechanisms (Kaiser, Barry, & Kaiser, 2002). The focus of this article was on newly enrolled participants.…”