Recorded presentation

Diane R. Roberts, MPA, Global Evaluation & Applied Research Solutions (GEARS) Inc., 3804 Landgraf Cove, Decatur, GA 30034-4736 and Milano Harden, EdM, Program Director, Healthcare Georgia Foundation, Inc, 50 Hurt Plaza, Suite 550, Atlanta, GA 30303, 404-653-0990, mharden@healthcaregeorgia.org.

Global Evaluation & Applied Research Solutions (GEARS), Inc. received a grant from the Healthcare Georgia Foundation to conduct a series of focused discussions among Georgia healthcare consumers. This series is called a listening tour and was conducted in 2003-2004. In total, the listening tour will encompass 32 sessions in five regions of the state. Unlike previously employed listening tour methodology, which usually involved conducting a series of open community forums, this project involves conducting distinct focused sessions for thirteen consumer categories including: teens, elderly, homeless, persons living with HIV/AIDS, mental illness, chronic diseases and disabilities; gay men and lesbians; working insured; underinsured/uninsured; Latinos, care givers; and substance abusers. Pilot study findings from 2003 revealed that regardless of consumer category, participants reported the lack of personal care as their primary challenge with the healthcare system. Whether participants were living with a disability, teenagers, or affluent middle class insured professionals, they all reported that the healthcare system did not embrace them as whole individuals, but rather focused attention on their reporting condition at the time of their medical visit or on their pre-existing condition, such as HIV/AIDS or mental illness. Tour results have significant implications for healthcare providers, students in public health and health professions, and the public health community. The findings of the tour reinforce the wisdom of designing intervention, prevention and evaluation programs that are based on quantitative analysis amplified and refined by the voice of the target population.

Learning Objectives: • Describe the information, skills, behaviors, or perspectives participants in the session will acquire through attendance and participation. Participants will have more information about the needs of consumers and perspectives about healthcare consumers’ opinions about the healthcare system. This session will present findings from two listening tours about how consumers describe healthy lifestyles and behaviors, where they receive their information about healthcare and their ideas about barriers to receiving quality healthcare. This session will also present these data in the aggregate and by each of the thirteen consumer categories. • Clearly identify the outcomes or actions participants can expect to demonstrate as a result of the educational experiences. See the action words below. Participants can expect to describe the fundamental design features of a “listening tour” and identify appropriate venues for its use. Additionally, this session will define the utility of listening tours to the public health community and how tour outcomes will be used to improve the health status of Georgians. Finally, the outcomes of this project can improve analysis of public health programs by enhancing the voice of the healthcare consumer. • Write the learning objectives that relate to these outcomes and that reflect the content of the session. At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• describe this methodology, explain why the methodology was used, and discuss barriers and resolutions to those barriers.
• understand why organizations support listening tours, discuss how organizations disseminate the results, advocate how ordinary consumers can benefit from the results.
• report the utility of listening tours as stand-alone research and as a tool to better understand quantitative information.

Related Web page: www.listeningtours.com

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Expenditure responsibility to GEARS

Recorded presentation