Recorded presentation

Denethia B. Sellers, MSW, PhD¹, Melva V. Thompson-Robinson, MSPE, DrPH², April Hogan², Devika Howard², Kateesha McConnell², and Jameika Sampson, MPH². (1) Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Florida A&M University, Gaither Office Complex, Tallahassee, FL 32307, 850-561-2737, dbs1to10@aol.com, (2) Institute of Public Health, Florida A&M University, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 207C Science Research Center, Tallahassee, FL 32307

In the wake of the events of September 11, 2001 and subsequent anthrax attacks, public health professionals have been developing and implementing educational materials and messages related to disaster preparedness. To this point, little is known about the relevance of these materials and messages for African Americans. A series of four initial focus groups were conducted with African Americans in North Florida to determine the relevance of current messages identified as important by representatives of the Florida Department of Health and the American Red Cross. The recordings from all focus groups were professionally transcribed for analysis. Recurring and emergent themes for the redesign of the materials and messages were identified based on issues related to disaster planning and readiness. A series of four additional focus groups with participants from the first series of groups were then conducted to determine if the redesigned materials and messages reflected the overall consensus across all groups. Based on the results of the final series of focus groups, the educational materials were revised and presented to the Florida Department of Health for use. Further qualitative analysis has given greater insight into the ways in which African Americans interpret and attend to materials and messages for disaster preparedness.

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