Musculoskeletal injuries in the fire service: views from a focus group study

1. The focus group is a qualitative data collection method involving carefully planned small group discussions designed to obtain perceptions on a defined area of interest. Focus groups can be used by occupational health nurses for gathering ecologically based, in-depth needs assessment information from workers prior to program planning. 2. Occupational health nurses can be guided in their needs assessments by an ecological framework that considers the person, workplace, and situational factors that contribute to occupational health problems. 3. A focus group study of fire chiefs and firefighters used an ecological framework to elicit participants' perceptions of the factors that contribute to musculoskeletal injury and the preventive strategies that would be acceptable to them. Participants shared their insights, motivations, and feelings about the factors, thus suggesting concepts and hypotheses to be explored further. 4. The occupational health nurse needs to consider the differing meanings that management and workers attach to an occupational health problem.