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Developing a bioterrorism preparedness campaign for veterans: Using focus groups to inform materials development.

Susan L Santos·Drew A Helmer·John Fotiades·Liesel Copeland·Jeffrey D Simon
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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.

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BioterrorismDisaster PlanningFocus GroupsHumansMalePlanning TechniquesUnited StatesVeteransJournal ArticleResearch Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

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Susan L Santos, Drew A Helmer, John Fotiades, Liesel Copeland, Jeffrey D Simon. 2006-06-27. Developing a bioterrorism preparedness campaign for veterans: Using focus groups to inform materials development.. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839906289075

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