Table 4 A summary table of the lessons learned in feasibility of holding an intervention development workshop in a secret Facebook group
Aspects and design | Aim of evaluation | Summary of results |
|---|---|---|
Acceptability | Are recipients and deliverers satisfied with the method? Does it feel appropriate? | Attendees of the workshop found it overall an acceptable method. |
Practicality | To what extent can the workshop be carried out with intended participants using existing resources? Are they able to carry out intervention activities? | As the workshop method uses Facebook asynchronously, a widely used platform by participants, they were able to complete the research posts at their own pace. Participants reported that they were able to complete the majority of activities, though some reported problems with knowing what activities they had completed and others said it was difficult if their lives were particularly busy. |
Implementation | 1. Can it be successfully delivered to participants in some defined but not fully controlled context? 2. What kind of resources is needed? 3. What factors affect implementation? 4. What is the speed and quality of implementation? | 1. The results suggest that this method is feasible to be implemented in a defined but not controlled context. 2. The resources needed are primarily researcher time to develop and facilitate the group, and all participants need access to the internet. 3. There are many factors that influence implementation. Researcher time and availability during the workshop influenced participant engagement. Internet access, time zones, and location of participants also affect implementation and should be considered at the design stage. 4. This method can be very quickly implemented if needed, though the authors suggest that time is taken prior to the start of the Facebook group to draft posts and review the appropriateness of the language for your target audience. |
Demand | 1. How likely is this method to be used? 2. What content generated the most and least interaction? | 1. This method has high potential to be used to intervention development with hard-to-reach and time-constrained groups. 2. Photo series and polls generated the most interaction, whereas text posts without any questions or prompts generated the least interaction. |