Confidence and willingness among laypersons in the UK to act in a head injury situation: a qualitative focus group study
Objectives To explore factors influencing confidence and willingness among laypersons in the UK to act in a head injury situation, in order to inform first aid education offered by the British Red Cross.Design Qualitative focus group study.Setting South East England.Participants Forty-four layperson...
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BMJ Publishing Group
2019-11-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e033531.full |
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| author | Aidan Baron Heather Jarman Mary Halter Emily Oliver Stefan Tino Kulnik Ann Hilton Stuart Garner Barry Klaassen |
| author_facet | Aidan Baron Heather Jarman Mary Halter Emily Oliver Stefan Tino Kulnik Ann Hilton Stuart Garner Barry Klaassen |
| author_sort | Aidan Baron |
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| description | Objectives To explore factors influencing confidence and willingness among laypersons in the UK to act in a head injury situation, in order to inform first aid education offered by the British Red Cross.Design Qualitative focus group study.Setting South East England.Participants Forty-four laypersons (37 women, 7 men) were purposively recruited from the general public using snowball sampling, into one focus group each for six population groups: parents of young children (n=8), informal carers of older adults (n=7), school staff (n=7), sports coaches (n=2), young adults (n=9) and ‘other’ adults (n=11). The median (range) age group across the sample was 25–34 years (18–24, 84–95). Participants were from Asian (n=6), Black (n=6), Mixed (n=2) and White (n=30) ethnic backgrounds.Results The majority of participants described being confident and willing to act in a head injury scenario if that meant calling for assistance, but did not feel sufficiently confident or knowledgeable to assist or make decisions in a more involved way. Individuals’ confidence and willingness presented as fluid and dependent on an interplay of situational and contextual considerations, which strongly impacted decision-making: prior knowledge and experience, characteristics of the injured person, un/observed head injury, and location and environment. These considerations may be framed as enablers or barriers to helping behaviour, impacting decision-making to the same extent as—or even more so than—the clinical signs and symptoms of head injury. An individual conceptual model is proposed to illustrate inter-relationships between these factors.Conclusions Our findings show that confidence and willingness to act in a head injury scenario are dependent on several contextual and situational factors. It is important to address such factors, in addition to knowledge of clinical signs and symptoms, in first aid education and training to improve confidence and willingness to act. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d9ae109c75514d9facb7b3fa2dfffc05 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-d9ae109c75514d9facb7b3fa2dfffc052024-11-27T08:40:10ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552019-11-0191110.1136/bmjopen-2019-033531Confidence and willingness among laypersons in the UK to act in a head injury situation: a qualitative focus group studyAidan Baron0Heather Jarman1Mary Halter2Emily Oliver3Stefan Tino Kulnik4Ann Hilton5Stuart Garner6Barry Klaassen71 Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Kingston University and St George`s, University of London, London, UK4 Emergency Department Clinical Research Unit, St George`s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK1 Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Kingston University and St George`s, University of London, London, UK1 School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK1 Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Kingston University and St George`s, University of London, London, UKPatient and Public Involvement Research Expert Group, Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Kingston University and St George’s, University of London, UKTalbot Primary School, Bournemouth, UK4 British Red Cross, London, UKObjectives To explore factors influencing confidence and willingness among laypersons in the UK to act in a head injury situation, in order to inform first aid education offered by the British Red Cross.Design Qualitative focus group study.Setting South East England.Participants Forty-four laypersons (37 women, 7 men) were purposively recruited from the general public using snowball sampling, into one focus group each for six population groups: parents of young children (n=8), informal carers of older adults (n=7), school staff (n=7), sports coaches (n=2), young adults (n=9) and ‘other’ adults (n=11). The median (range) age group across the sample was 25–34 years (18–24, 84–95). Participants were from Asian (n=6), Black (n=6), Mixed (n=2) and White (n=30) ethnic backgrounds.Results The majority of participants described being confident and willing to act in a head injury scenario if that meant calling for assistance, but did not feel sufficiently confident or knowledgeable to assist or make decisions in a more involved way. Individuals’ confidence and willingness presented as fluid and dependent on an interplay of situational and contextual considerations, which strongly impacted decision-making: prior knowledge and experience, characteristics of the injured person, un/observed head injury, and location and environment. These considerations may be framed as enablers or barriers to helping behaviour, impacting decision-making to the same extent as—or even more so than—the clinical signs and symptoms of head injury. An individual conceptual model is proposed to illustrate inter-relationships between these factors.Conclusions Our findings show that confidence and willingness to act in a head injury scenario are dependent on several contextual and situational factors. It is important to address such factors, in addition to knowledge of clinical signs and symptoms, in first aid education and training to improve confidence and willingness to act.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e033531.full |
| spellingShingle | Aidan Baron Heather Jarman Mary Halter Emily Oliver Stefan Tino Kulnik Ann Hilton Stuart Garner Barry Klaassen Confidence and willingness among laypersons in the UK to act in a head injury situation: a qualitative focus group study BMJ Open |
| title | Confidence and willingness among laypersons in the UK to act in a head injury situation: a qualitative focus group study |
| title_full | Confidence and willingness among laypersons in the UK to act in a head injury situation: a qualitative focus group study |
| title_fullStr | Confidence and willingness among laypersons in the UK to act in a head injury situation: a qualitative focus group study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Confidence and willingness among laypersons in the UK to act in a head injury situation: a qualitative focus group study |
| title_short | Confidence and willingness among laypersons in the UK to act in a head injury situation: a qualitative focus group study |
| title_sort | confidence and willingness among laypersons in the uk to act in a head injury situation a qualitative focus group study |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e033531.full |
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