Igniting interest in prevention:  using firefighter focus groups to inform implementation and enhancement of an urban canvassing program.
BACKGROUND
Smoke alarm canvassing is recognized as an empirically based, effective intervention for increasing access to and the presence of smoke alarms in homes.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to inform the implementation of an intervention designed to enhance an existing fire department smoke alarm canvassing program through an empirically grounded, participatory process.


METHODS
We conducted a series of focus groups with fire union leaders and firefighters involved with the canvassing program in 1 US city, shared the results with the participants, and presented the resulting recommendations to fire department leadership.


METHODS
This research occurred in Baltimore, Maryland.


METHODS
Focus group participants included firefighters who participate in the Fire Department's smoke alarm canvassing program and representatives from the local firefighters' union.


METHODS
The focus groups sought to capture firefighters' experiences with and opinions about the canvassing program and how to improve it as well as challenges to canvassing work.


RESULTS
We conducted 10 focus groups with 65 participants. Firefighters' perspectives on the canvassing program and their recommendations for improving it were expressed through 3 categories of themes concerning program management, canvassing challenges, and attitudes about the program and the community. We also discuss the process of presenting these findings and recommendations to the participants and the fire department leadership, and describe how implementation of some of the recommendations has progressed.


CONCLUSIONS
Both the process and outcomes of this formative work inform how to develop and implement community-based public health interventions in real-world settings through academic-community partnerships. The findings also have implications for how canvassing programs are being implemented.
Center for Injury Research and Policy, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. sfrattar@jhsph.edu
Shannon
S
Frattaroli
Eileen M
EM
McDonald
Nhan T
NT
Tran
Alison R
AR
Trump
Raymond C
RC
OʼBrocki
Andrea C
AC
Gielen
D000061:Accidents, Home / Q000517:prevention & control; D000328:Adult; D015142:Baltimore; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003479:Curriculum; D005260:Female; D061388:Firefighters / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005390:Fires / Q000517:prevention & control; D017144:Focus Groups; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006284:Health Plan Implementation / Q000379:methods*; D006293:Health Promotion; D006798:Housing / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007750:Labor Unions; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D016134:Organizational Policy; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011482:Protective Devices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017751:Safety Management; D015208:Smoke Inhalation Injury / Q000517:prevention & control; D019037:Urban Health Services