Focus Group - Consent Script

Focus Group Oral Consent Script

Hello. I am Dr. Monica Schoch-Spana from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and would like to talk to you about Zika virus. We are working to describe and evaluate the official communication efforts that have been ongoing about Zika virus to better understand how individual members of the public are interpreting them. We ask you to join our work/research study because you are a member of the study’s priority participant groups, which includes women and men who also represent different ethnic/racial groups (e.g., Hispanics/Latinos, African-Americans, Caucasians). You do not have to join; it is your choice.

If you say yes, we will ask you to remain in this focus group session conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security research team. During the session, you will be asked to help describe and evaluate official communication efforts that have been ongoing about Zika, as well has how your individual values, culture and ethics inform your interpretation of these messages. This focus group is in support of a larger project to develop best practices for health authorities on how to meet the communication needs of a community threatened by an infectious disease. With your participation and thoughtful input, the Center for Health Security hopes to provide those authorities with communication techniques that incorporate local cultural norms and beliefs about public health, to help improve the public’s cooperation in future disease outbreaks. The focus group will take approximately 3 hours, and will include 7-9 people. You may be uncomfortable answering some of the questions, as they may prompt values, beliefs or understandings related to Zika and its effects. You do not have to answer all the questions and you may stop at any time. We will record the session and take notes, and your comments will help improve future communication techniques utilized during infectious disease outbreaks.

There is a risk that someone outside the study will see your information. We will do our best to keep your information safe by ensuring all materials are password protected and kept safe on our secure server. All identifying information will be kept separately from your recorded remarks obtained during the focus group discussion. After the focus group, identifiers linking you to the specific data we collected with be destroyed. At the conclusion of the study, the tape used to record the focus group will also be destroyed.

There will not be any direct benefit to you from participation in this study. Your participation, however, may contribute to the development of guidelines for how best to meet the information needs of the public during an infectious disease crisis. We will let the community know about the results of the study.

In recognition of your time and any costs you could incur as a result of your participation in a focus group, you will receive check compensation of $75.00. The researchers recognize that some government employees and other professionals may have to decline the compensation due to institutional constraints upon accepting gifts, etc.

Do you have any questions? You may contact Dr. Schoch-Spana or Diane Meyer about your questions or problems with this work.

Would you like to join the study?

[if yes] May I begin?