Abstract
The use of focus groups in gerontology to capture information on experiences, perceptions and attitudes related to aging and older people has burgeoned over the past 20 years. While researchers have given attention to procedural issues in conducting focus groups, there has been little examination of the effects of cultural factors in the use of this method. This presentation analyzes experiences from focus groups conducted with American Indian tribes in the U.S. Southwest and Oklahoma as part of research on the long-term care needs of elders and their family caregivers. Focus groups were used to establish content validity of a caregiver burden scale for a survey of family caregivers, and to explore the experience of caregiving to frail elders within reservation and other rural settings. This method was selected as being culturally compatible for use with tribal groups that have a strong oral tradition including storytelling and “talking circles”, an indigenous process that involves active listening and the opportunity for all participants to contribute their views on subjects under discussion. Issues that emerged in conducting these focus groups including the influence of cultural orientation to confrontation, cultural role definition that affected who identified themselves as caregivers, the decorum accorded to older focus group members, the latitude of community and tribal concerns, and the public idealization of elder care, are discussed in terms of their effects on the focus group process. The implications of these influences are considered from a cultural framework for focus groups and in recommendations for research practice.