ARS | Publication request: Designing a bone health and soy focus group discussion guide based on the health belief model

Submitted to: Journal of Extension
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: June 19, 2007
Publication Date: February 1, 2008
Citation: Robinson, S.F., Bielamowicz, M.K., Rodgers, A.S., Wong, W.W., Konzelmann, K.L. 2008. Designing a bone health and soy focus group discussion guide based on the health belief model. Electronic - Journal of Extension. Available: http://www.joe.org/joe/2008february/rb3.php.

Interpretive Summary: Osteoporosis is a common health problem among older American women. Soy foods might provide benefit against osteoporosis. In order to find out how much adult women understand the risk of osteoporosis and soy foods, five 60-minute meetings were conducted among 63 adult women in three counties in Texas. The meeting focused on their perceived risk and severity of osteoporosis, their perceived benefits of soy, their perceived barriers of consuming soy, the potential steps they would take to prevent osteoporosis, and their likelihood of trying new soy foods. The results showed that many women have limited understanding on their risk for osteoporosis and negative perceptions on soy foods. Based on these findings, a bone health curricula was developed to address these issues.

Technical Abstract: Focus groups were used to assess the knowledge and skills of women in order to support curricula development. The Health Belief Model was applied to the discussion guide to enhance focus group findings and applications. Constructs related to perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, and barriers; cues to action; and self-efficacy were probed. Focus group findings revealed that women may have a limited understanding of osteoporosis risk. Perceived barriers such as negative perceptions to soy consumption were also noted. Cues to action were identified and integrated. Basing focus group discussion guides on model constructs may enhance focus group results and their applications.