My name is Christiaan Morgan, and I am currently working as a clinical
psychologist in London. I would like to ask people if they would be
willing to take part in research I am conducting in conjunction with
the psychology dept of a London sexual health clinic. The study aims
to look at how people "find meaning" in their diagnosis (make sense of
it, find benefits in it etc), and how that contributes to both
psychological and physical well-being. Well-being is only recently
being thought of as something more than the simple absence of negative
symptoms, although how we achieve well-being is currently unknown.
The study will form a doctoral thesis and will aim to inform service
provision at the clinic. i have full ethical approval, and am asking
people on this site because using information services such as this is
just one way people can be seen to construct a personal framework of
meaning after being given a diagnosis. Little research has been
conducted in this area, and even fewer studies aim to look at the more
positive processes contributing to the strength of people living with
HIV and AIDS.
Currently, the study is looking to recruit males who have had a
diagnosis of 6 months or more.
It's an anonymous questionnaire study, available from me (I can send
you a freepost envelope), or from download at
http://members.lycos.co.uk/northcircular74/battery.pdf (with freepost
address).
Rather than go on any more here, if you would like more information,
or have any simple advice, please contact me. I would be happy to
feed-back any results to interested parties.
Thanks for your time,
Christiaan
On 21 Dec 2003 16:10:04 -0800, christiaan.morgan@virgin.net
(Christiaan Morgan) wrote:
This may be a way to reach people but I wonder about conducting human
clinical research of this nature over the web. First, many of these
types of surveys or interviews do not appear to be legitimate. So far,
this one does appear to be. However, I am concerned that the email you
provide is different from the one on the .pdf file and further that
neither one is related to Royal Holloway's domain. I am cc'ing this
email to Professor Bradley for confirmation.
I have other questions: how does your Institutional Review Board
assure patient confidentiality? Does it approve of this method of
recruiting? How do you deal with international research if respondents
are not from the UK? This seems to violate international codes of
ethics. It is NOT an anonymous pdf as you assert, as there is a very
limited "Consent Form" at the end, requiring a name and signature.
I think the type of research proposed in the above pdf file is
intriguing but I wonder at its purpose and need. If it is to help in
coping skills, I fear that you will have some serious selection bias
by undertaking a means of recruitment that will identify people who
are willing/engaged in the search for tackling their HIV disease and
actively join groups like misc.health.aids--a sort of snapshot from
this side of the digital divide.
In the end, I caution ANYONE about giving any kind of personal
information. I was also disturbed to see that you provided no direct
contact information at the end of your post.
George M. Carter
***
Original post:
My name is Christiaan Morgan, and I am currently working as a clinical
psychologist in London. I would like to ask people if they would be
willing to take part in research I am conducting in conjunction with
the psychology dept of a London sexual health clinic. The study aims
to look at how people "find meaning" in their diagnosis (make sense of
it, find benefits in it etc), and how that contributes to both
psychological and physical well-being. Well-being is only recently
being thought of as something more than the simple absence of negative
symptoms, although how we achieve well-being is currently unknown.
The study will form a doctoral thesis and will aim to inform service
provision at the clinic. i have full ethical approval, and am asking
people on this site because using information services such as this is
just one way people can be seen to construct a personal framework of
meaning after being given a diagnosis. Little research has been
conducted in this area, and even fewer studies aim to look at the more
positive processes contributing to the strength of people living with
HIV and AIDS.
Currently, the study is looking to recruit males who have had a
diagnosis of 6 months or more.
It's an anonymous questionnaire study, available from me (I can send
you a freepost envelope), or from download at
http://members.lycos.co.uk/northcircular74/battery.pdf (with freepost
address).
Rather than go on any more here, if you would like more information,
or have any simple advice, please contact me. I would be happy to
feed-back any results to interested parties.
Thanks for your time,
Christiaan
