Building Bridges to Positive Aging Among Seniors

Consent Form

Question Title

Consent Form

You are invited to participate in a research study called Building Bridges to Positive Aging Among Seniors. Please read this form carefully and feel free to ask any questions you may have about the study.

Purpose, Procedure, & Objective of the Research: The purpose of the current study is to co-design, implement, and evaluate patient-oriented strategies aimed at addressing loneliness and isolation among seniors in Canada. Loneliness refers to the mismatch we may feel between the quantity and quality of our relationships that we actually have and what we desire. Social isolation refers to times when we lack interaction with others, have few social contacts, low quality or fulfillment in relationships, and/or lack a sense of belonging. Due to changes in society, as well as the pandemic, loneliness and social isolation are becoming more common, especially as we age. Social relationships are recognized as having a major positive influence on people’s health and wellbeing, so developing innovative approaches to address them can have a direct impact on health and happiness of older adults.

Procedures:
If you choose to participate you will be asked to complete up to two phases of the study. The first phase involves completing an online survey, then after a delay completing it again; the second phase involves completing either a small group discussion online, or some life story work over video conferencing with a life story coach. The survey is hosted by Survey Monkey, and the online video conferencing platform Webex will be used for all video conferences. The audio and video of the video conferences will be recorded. Due to the nature of the group discussion and the life story work sessions, participants will not be able to participate in video conferences by phone. Each phase is described next.

Online or Telephone Survey. In the survey session, you would be asked to complete a 54-question survey online or over the telephone that asks about your social network, feelings of loneliness and isolation, wellbeing, quality of life, how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected you, and a few demographic questions. This part of the study would take approximately 30 minutes of your time. If you do not choose to participate in the options described next, you will be invited to complete the survey again approximately 1 month later.

The survey can be completed over the telephone with the help of a research assistant who will read questions out loud for you if you choose. At the end of the survey, you would be invited to participate in one of the other parts of the study, described next.

Online Discussion Group Option. The online discussion group option is open to anyone in Canada (limited space available) while those who participate in the life story work must be local to Saskatoon, SK, Canada (up to 40 participants).

In the online group discussion session, you would meet with a small group of other participants (approximately 10) in a video conference via Webex and discuss selected topics with the help of a leader. After 20 minutes of discussion, you would be asked to move on to another discussion on a related, but new topic. There would be a total of five topics of discussion regarding loneliness and social isolation. Approximately 2-weeks after the group discussion has been completed, you would be asked to complete the survey session again to examine any potential changes due to time passing or the group discussion.

Life Story Work Option. If you participate in the life story sessions, you would meet virtually (via video conferencing platform Webex) four to six times with a Life Story Coach for approximately 1 hour each session. The Coach who would work with you through a workbook to review past photos, objects, and stories to generate a digital Life Story Book that will be printed for you to keep and share. Approximately two weeks after receiving your Life Story Book, you will be asked to complete the survey session again to examine any potential changes due to time passing or to the Life Story Work. To participate in this part of the project, you must live local to the Saskatoon, SK, area as we may need to do curbside pick-up and drop-off of images, objects, and/or digital devices. If you are unable to video conference with your own device, you may be provided with an iPad to borrow for the duration of the study that will be equipped only with video conferencing ability. Please care for this device as if it were your own and return it (via curbside pick-up) in good condition at the end of the study or when you withdraw.

How to Participate in the Option. If you agree to participate in the study, you will first complete the study survey. You will be prompted to indicate your interest in the remaining parts of the study at the end of the first survey portion. If you agree, you will be directed to a new webpage to record your interest and preferred contact information so a member of the research team can contact you in the future for screening and enrolment. You would also be asked a few screening questions (e.g., age, where you live, access to video conferencing, living arrangements).

Funding:
This research is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) Catalyst Grant, and St. Thomas More College Research Grant. There are no known conflicts of interest between the researchers and/or sponsors.

Compensation:
Following each Phase of the study, participants may choose to have their name and preferred method of contact entered into a number of draws. You may enter into the thirty draws of $100 each up to four times, depending on what you participate in. If you win a prize, you may be required to provide your Social Insurance Number and name to the University of Saskatchewan financial services for taxation and audit purposes.

Question Title

Potential Benefits and Risks:
There are no risks to participation beyond those encountered in everyday life. Some participants may feel slight emotional or psychological discomfort by reflecting on their responses to particular questions on the surveys (e.g., “I don’t feel particularly pleased with the way I am” 1 = Strongly Disagree to 6 = Strongly Agree). You are free to answer only those questions that you are comfortable with and can leave questions unanswered. You are also free to stop data collection at any time, should you wish to discontinue your participation altogether, or to take a break.

There may be no personal benefits to your participation. Potential benefits of your participation from a scientific and community-based perspective include helping us learn about loneliness and social isolation among seniors in Saskatchewan and potential means of addressing loneliness and social isolation.

Storage of Data:

The survey will be hosted by Survey Monkey. Your data will be stored in facilities hosted in Canada. Please see the following for more information on the Survey Monkey Privacy Policy: https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/legal/privacy/
Webex’s servers are located in Canada and no data will be transmitted through, or stored on, any servers outside Canada. Please see the following for more information on the Webex Privacy Policy: https://help.webex.com/en-us/nv2hm53/Cisco-Webex-Security-and-Privacy
Research data may be temporarily stored in researchers’ home devices due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The data will be stored on password-protected computer devices that only the researchers have access to, and will be backed up using USask cloud storage, e.g., OneDrive, Cabinet, or DataStore).
The recording of the online video conferences will be saved to a local USask-managed computer rather than to the platforms’ internal cloud storage and the security protections (e.g., encryption) for that recording.
Physical data will be stored in locked cabinets in a locked office. Electronic data may be stored on researchers’ password-protected computer during analyses but moved to a USask system for long-term storage (e.g., OneDrive, Cabinet, or DataStore).
Data will be stored securely on the University of Saskatchewan’s PAWS Cabinet and an external flash drive by the research supervisor for a minimum of five years, after which the data will be confidentially destroyed beyond recovery.
Once the data is no longer required and following the required storage period, the data will be confidentially destroyed beyond recovery.
Identifying information (e.g., Consent Forms, contact information) will be stored separately from the data collected.

Confidentiality: Your data will be kept completely confidential and no personally identifying information will be linked to your data. Please do not type your name or any identifying information on your responses. Please note that although we will make every effort to safeguard your data, we cannot guarantee the privacy of your data, due to the technical vulnerabilities inherent to all online video conferencing platforms.

Participants should agree not to make any unauthorized recordings of the content of a meeting / data collection session. However, there is no guaranteed methods for researchers to ensure all participants will refrain from recording the session.
The videoconference will be conducted in a private area of the researchers’ home or office that will not be accessible by individuals outside of the research team during the data collection. It is recommended that the participants do likewise.
The researcher will undertake to safeguard the confidentiality of the discussion, but cannot guarantee that other members of the group will do so. Please respect the confidentiality of the other members of the group by not disclosing the contents of this discussion outside the group and be aware that others may not respect your confidentiality.
Scheduled meetings with a password and a securely configured personal meeting room will be used to prevent any uninvited personnel to enter the video conferencing sessions.
During video conferences, participants can choose not to be video recorded by turning off their device’s camera.
The Social Sciences Research Laboratories (SSRL) at the University of Saskatchewan will be responsible for transcribing any recordings of video conference discussions. Any transcribers from the SSRL will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement.
The data collected in this study will be published in academic journal(s) and/or presented at professional conferences.
Although the data from this research project will be published and presented at conferences, the data will be summarized in collective form so that it will not be possible to identify individuals.
Data will be coded using arbitrary participant numbers that will not be associated with any names or personally identifying information. Digital consent records will not be linked with the data, as the consent and contact information file will be stored separately from the data.

Right to Withdraw:
Your participation is voluntary, and you are free to answer only those questions that you are comfortable with. The information that is shared will be held in strict confidence and discussed only with the research team. You may withdraw from the research project for any reason, at any time, without penalty of any sort. If you withdraw from the research project at any time, any data that you have contributed will be destroyed beyond recovery at your request. Your right to withdraw data from the study will apply until the data are pooled (i.e., after this data collection session). After this date, it may not be possible to link your data to you personally and is possible that some form of research dissemination will have already occurred; thus, it may not be possible to withdraw your data.

Questions or Concerns:
If you have any questions concerning the research project, please feel free to ask at any point; you are also free to contact the researchers at the numbers provided on page 1 if you have other questions. This research project has been approved on ethical grounds by the University of Saskatchewan Research Ethics Board (REB) on July 6th, 2021; Beh-REB#: 2669. Any questions regarding your rights as a participant may be addressed to that committee through the Research Ethics Office ethics.office@usask.ca; (306) 966-2975; out of town participants may call toll free (888) 966-2975.

Follow Up:
To obtain results from the study, please contact the principal investigator at Donna.Goodridge@usask.ca.

Consent to Participate:
By completing and submitting this questionnaire, your free and informed consent is implied and indicates that you understand the above conditions of participation in this study.

5% of survey complete.