Use of Asynchronous Online Focus Groups (AOFGs) for Formative Evaluation of Vaccine Education Campaigns

Abstract Information: This session discusses the use of asynchronous online focus groups (AOFGs) as a formative evaluation method to inform Mpox virus (previously known as Monkeypox or MPV) vaccine education campaigns tailored for Black LGBTQIA+ populations. AOFGs, which have seen increased use since the COVID-19 pandemic, are semi-structured online forums for discussion that unfold over several days, allowing participants to respond and interact at their own pace and at their own convenience. The evaluation project being discussed was conducted in partnership with the Southern California Clinical Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI), the Immunization Coalition of Los Angeles County (ICLAC), Better Brothers LA (BBLA), and the CDC Foundation (CDCF). Several conditions of the evaluation prompted the evaluation team to explore innovative qualitative methodologies to efficiently connect with the intended population in a culturally appropriate way and gather important and timely information. These conditions included a minimally resourced evaluation budget, a newly identified need to conduct focus groups to fulfill grant obligations, a short time frame to plan, recruit participants, conduct, analyze, and report findings from the focus groups (two months prior to the project end), and mindfulness about evaluator identities and positionalities and their potential influence on an in-person focus group experience for participants. Given this context, a virtual, asynchronous, interactive group interview methodology was piloted. Padlet, a collaborative online bulletin board platform, was used to collect participant responses and feedback over an extended period of 21 days. Six different Padlet discussion boards were started, with a total of eight questions that were drafted based on findings from a previous Mpox survey with the Black LGBTQIA+ community. The preceding survey was designed to identify information needs about Mpox and the vaccine, motivations for vaccination, preferred communication channels, and ways providers can offer more affirming and trusted care to the Black LGBTQIA+ community to inform public health activities. The evaluator moderated AOFG in Padlet, allowed for a deeper exploration of survey findings (i.e., explanatory sequential design) informing an Mpox vaccination campaign on social media. Participants could respond anonymously to each question board and interact (like and comment) with others' posts. AOFGs allowed the collection of community input and yielded rich community insights to guide tailored Mpox vaccine messaging and outreach strategies. Trust in the process was established by having a known entity send invitations for participation. Other advantages included participant convenience, anonymity fostering candid disclosure on sensitive topics, and interactive features. Varied participant engagement levels and some logistical and technical barriers posed challenges. AOFGs are a promising formative evaluation method to gain community insights for tailoring public health messaging. AOFGs provide evaluators an opportunity to collaboratively engage community members in shaping interventions to address their needs. More research and discussions are needed around optimizing AOFGs for evaluation in diverse contexts. In this session, we hope to do just that by engaging attendees in sharing experiences with focus group innovations to improve our collective practice as evaluators.