My name is Rebecca Bishop, and I am conducting a research study to explore social support and supportive relationships in people aged 60 and above This research forms part of the requirements of the Bachelor of Health Science (Honours) degree I am currently completing; and is being supervised by Dr. Nikos Thomacos, a Senior Lecturer with the Department of Occupational Therapy, Monash University.
Participation in this study will involve you completing a number of questionnaires relating to your sources and use of support; the people you know and your relationships with them; and about yourself in general. You will also be asked to provide some general information about yourself, such as your age and gender. The questionnaires should take you approximately 30-40 to complete, and essentially involve you answering questions by identifying the answer that best reflects you and your life.
You will not be required to put your name on any of the questionnaires, so that your responses will remain anonymous. As participation is anonymous, consent will be assumed by you selecting the ‘start’ button at the end of this explanatory statement.
In order to participate in this study you must be over 60 years of age, not need assistance to complete the questionnaires, and be able to complete the questionnaires in English.
You are therefore asked to participate in this important study.
All data collected will be stored in a secure place at Monash University and treated as confidential. Only myself and my supervisor will have access to the data and only group findings will be reported. A summary of the findings of the study will be made available to yourself and other participants upon request.
Recruitment for this study is occurring in one of two ways: by organisations emailing their membership on our behalf advising them of the research, or by participants forwarding the email they received from someone in their social circle about the research to others they feel might also be interested in participating. In recruiting participants in this way, we are neither accessing nor recording individual email addresses.
It is not anticipated that any of the material contained in any of the questionnaires should cause you any distress as all of the questionnaires have been used previously on a number of occasions. While it is not anticipated that participation in this study will cause you any harm or result in any adverse events, if at any stage of the study you experience distress due to the questions asked or from being involved, please discontinue completing the questionnaires immediately. Should you require any further assistance due to distress experienced, please contact Lifeline on 13 1114 or 662 1000 (24 hours), or Crisis Line on 13 1278 (24 hours)
The data collected in this study will be used to write a thesis, prepared articles for submission to journals for publication, and will also be used in presentations. Only aggregate findings will be reported. Data storage practices will adhere to University regulations and data collected will be kept on University premises in a locked cupboard/filing cabinet for 5 years. All electronic data will be password protected. This data will otherwise not be disclosed to any other organisation or persons.