Table 5.
Sample study content areas and sample questions/probes for health care providers and community stakeholders
| Content area | Sample questions and probes |
|---|---|
| Background information | I would like to start off by asking you to tell me a little bit about your role in the community |
| Please tell me about your experiences working with women ages 16–19, particularly in Umlazi | |
| Challenges faced by young women (general) | What are some of the challenges faced by young women, particularly those in Umlazi, today? (probes for orphanhood, poverty, violence, unplanned/teenage pregnancy) |
| What are the causes of some of these problems? | |
| Challenges to HIV prevention | You have mentioned several challenges faced by young women in Umlazi today…How do these challenges affect young women’s risk for becoming infected HIV? |
| As you know, there are many factors that affect the nature of sexual relationships. What have you noticed about young women’s relationships that may contribute to especially high HIV rates? (probes for what/who has the most influence on young women’s sexual behavior, power of women in these relationships, condom negotiation) | |
| Some of the young women we have spoken with have mentioned social gatherings known as inkwari. Tell me what you have heard about these gatherings (probes for description of substance use) | |
| Content of potential intervention | Please tell me about some of the things your community is currently doing to help young women remain HIV negative (probe for what strategies work best and do not work, what could help you to do your job better, what is not currently done that could make a difference) |
| Who else (besides young women) need to be involved in an HIV prevention program for young women? | |
| There are many strategies that healthcare providers could use to help young women stay HIV negative… what approach do you think would be most effective? | |
| What things may make it hard for young women to benefit from a program designed to reduce the risk of HIV infection? |
The focus group and key informant interviews shared many common questions; therefore, we grouped them together