Information Letter and Consent Form for Focus Group Members
Our research team based out of Algonquin College would like to invite you to participate in a research study entitled “The Healthy Aging Collective”, which aims to help support older adults who might be experiencing social isolation. Before you decide to participate, it is important that you understand what is involved in this study and why the research is being completed. Please read the following information letter carefully, and ask the researcher should you have any questions or need clarification.
Project Description/Purpose of Study
The goal of the Healthy Aging Collective (HAC) project, is to promote healthy aging, aging in place, social and volunteer engagement, and inclusion. To do so, our study will bring together older adults from diverse communities to collaborate on developing a Wellness Workbook. The Wellness Workbook will include what participants feel is important, primarily reflecting important resources for staying engaged and active in the community. Once developed, it is hoped that the Wellness Workbook will help to engage older adults in social and leisure activities to promote well-being and reduce feelings of social isolation.
The purposes of this project are:
- To examine the experiences older adults have in the process of contributing to the development of a wellness resource to address social isolation.
- To examine the subjective experiences and perspectives that diverse older adults in Canada have throughout their participation in pilot testing the wellness resource.
- To understand how all older adults involved in the project may experience changes in their leisure and social lifestyles between the beginning and end of the project.
The study will be conducted by a team led by Principal Investigator Patricia Robson, M.S., CTRS, Program Coordinator and Faculty at Algonquin College. Funding for the project has been provided by New Horizons Seniors, a federal grants and contributions program supporting older adults and their communities. The expected duration of participation in the research study will be from September 15th 2021 to March 31st 2022.
What does your participation involve?
We are inviting you to take part in this research project. If you accept, you will be asked to:
- Take part in 8 workshops of 1.5 hours with 8 to 10 other participants where you will contribute to the process of developing and providing feedback on a wellness resource workbook.
- Participate in short surveys and questionnaires to gain an understanding of your experience participating in this project, as well as your feelings about your leisure and social lifestyles.
Who may participate in the study?
- Participants must be 50 years of age and over
- Participants must be a Canadian resident
- Participants must be English and/or French-speaking
- Participants must be able to provide their own consent to participate
- Participants must be comfortable using/learning how to use videoconferencing platforms
- Participants must be able to meet the time commitment required for the project
- Participants must have access to reliable internet and computer with video capabilities
Is participation in the study voluntary?
- Participation in this research project is completely voluntary
- Should you choose to participate, you will need to provide written consent
- You may decline to answer any of the questions asked throughout this study
- You may decide to exit the focus group sessions at any time without any consequence
Data Collection
The researchers will be collecting demographic data pertaining to the participants' age, gender, income level, ethnicity, language, disability, and geographical area to satisfy diverse population requirements. Additionally, researchers will be gathering subjective information surrounding participant experiences, feelings, and opinions to understand the impact of their contribution on personal wellbeing as well as to provide insight into resource development. This data will be collected using the following methods:
- Registration forms
- Pre and post program assessments
- 5-question post-meeting questionnaires
- Observation
Confidentiality
Only designated members of the research team will have access to information regarding the identities of participants. Identifying information will be removed from the data that is collected and will be stored separately.
The principal investigator will replace the participant names with a coding system and pseudonym to ensure confidentiality, and save this information on a secure hard drive only accessible to the principal investigator. Participant information will not be identifiable in all present and future use of research data. All collected data will be securely stored for a minimum of 7 years in an encrypted folder on a password protected computer.
You can withdraw your consent and request that your data be removed from the study by contacting the researchers up until the completion of the final project (March, 2022). Please note that it is not possible to remove data if/when the study results have been submitted for publication.
We will ask all participants to keep in confidence information that identifies or could potentially identify another participant and/or their comments, however we cannot guarantee that everyone will honour this request.
Participant data will be kept confidential except in cases where the researcher is legally obligated to disclose and report special incidents. These incidents may include, but are not limited to physical self-harm and or harm to others, abuse or suicidal ideation.
Risks and Benefits
This research study involves minimal risk. Some possible risks include low level physical risk through physical activities such as chair yoga, walking, and at-home exercise workouts. Additionally, there is the possibility of minimal mental health risk through the acts of discussion, volunteering, art, mindfulness and learning should these bring up any uncomfortable or unpleasant feelings and/or memories.
Participation in this study will directly impact the participants through their involvement and identify the personal benefits of contribution to a wellness resource, such as increasing self-fulfillment, social inclusion, social engagement and personal significance. The development of this resource is also intended to benefit the community as aims to promote healthy aging and recreation, as well as to help engage diverse older adult populations in social leisure experiences. Additionally, this study may benefit future policies surrounding aging, as it may lead to social change and the way community resources are developed.
Conflict of Interests
There are no real, perceived or potential conflicts of interest on the part of researchers, Algonquin College, or New Horizons for Seniors.
Compensation
There is no compensation for participating in this study, although participants will be offered a free digital copy of the workbook as a sign of appreciation for the time they have committed to the study. There will not be any reimbursement for participation-related expenses. Additionally, due to the minimal foreseeable risks involved in participation, there will be no compensation for injury.
How will I find out about the findings from this study?
The findings of this study will be shared through a research report at the end of the project. There is a possibility that the research findings could be used for further research purposes however, identifying data to participants will not be shared. Additionally, the workbook resources developed through this project may be sold at a nominal cost to further the reach of this project in supporting older adults in the community.
Contact Persons
Should you wish to discuss any ethical issues surrounding this study, you may contact Patricia Robson, Primary Investigator, at robsonp@algonquincollege.com or (613-727-4723 x5435). Participants are also welcome to contact the Algonquin College Research Ethics Board at (613) 727-4723 x 5213 or REBAdmin@algonquincollege.com to discuss any ethical issues surrounding the Healthy Aging Collective research Project.