Consent Form to Participate in a Quality Improvement Project
Title of Project: Exploring innovative technologically enhanced solutions to address identified facilitators and barriers to educating breastfeeding families
Name of Principal Investigator (PI): Jennifer Abbass Dick RN, PhD IBCLC; Associate Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences; Ontario Tech University;2000 Simcoe Street North; Oshawa, ON L1G 0C5; Tel 905-721-8668 ext 3735; Jennifer.AbbassDick@ontariotechu.ca
Departmental and institutional affiliation(s): Ontario Tech University,
External Funder/Sponsor: SSHRC Ignite Grant
Introduction: You are invited to participate in a project entitled 'Exploring innovative technologically enhanced solutions to address identified facilitators and barriers to educating breastfeeding families.' You are being asked to take part in a quality improvement project being conducted by Ontario Tech University. Please read the information about the project presented in this form. The form includes details on project procedures, risks and benefits that you should know before you decide to participate. You should take as much time as you need to make your decision. You should ask the Principal Investigator (PI) to explain anything that you do not understand and make sure that all of your questions have been answered before submitting this consent form. Before you make your decision, feel free to talk about this project with anyone you wish, including your friends and family. Participation in this project is voluntary. This project has been reviewed by the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (Ontario Tech University) Research Ethics Board [17677#] on [February 07, 2025].
Purpose: This project is being conducted as part of a collaborative quality improvement project between Ontario Tech University and partnering organizations. This quality improvement project is designed to implement an eHealth resource in clinical interactions across health regions to standardize breastfeeding education and increase breastfeeding health literacy. The purpose of this project phase is to determine users perceptions of usability, content and design of the prototype website and supplemental handouts/posters for use in clinical settings. This enables us to know how this prototype is received by users and any necessary adaptations required to aid in providing this information in clinical interactions to increase parents' breastfeeding health literacy. See the video below for more information about this project.
You have been invited to participate in this project because you are a potential users, expectant or breastfeeding parent or family member, or you deliver care and support to perinatal or breastfeeding families.
Procedures: You will be asked to complete an online survey which will ask questions about your use and satisfaction with the prototype website and supplemental handouts/posters. This survey will take about 10-15 minutes to complete.
Potential Benefits: By participating in this study, you will be helping the project team create breastfeeding educational resources to meet the needs of clinicians and families to standardize breastfeeding education and increase breastfeeding health literacy. The breastfeeding resources resulting from this study may be freely available for use online and handouts/posters available upon request (email breastfeedingstudy@ontariotechu.ca).
Potential Risk or Discomforts: There is no known potential risk for participating in this study. No more than 10-15 mins would be required from the participants to complete the survey and you can select the questions you are willing to answer. Data will be collected using a user-friendly platform, so participants can easily follow and answer the survey questions.
Use and Storage of Data: No identifiers will be collected on the survey. All information collected during this project will be kept confidential and will not be shared with anyone outside the project team unless required by law. No personal or identifying information will be collected. You will not be named in any reports, publications, or presentations that may come from this project. Data will be stored in a password protected file on Ontario Tech University secure Google Drive. Management of data is limited to the principle investigator and project team members. Data will be retained for five years after collecting and will be destroyed from the secure google drive. There is a possibility of utilizing the data for secondary research purposes. In this case, the research team will submit an additional Research Ethics Board application specifically for the secondary use of the data in any future research purpose.
Confidentiality: Your privacy shall be respected. No information about your identity will be shared or published without your permission, unless required by law. Confidentiality will be provided to the fullest extent possible by law, professional practice, and ethical codes of conduct. Please note that confidentiality cannot be guaranteed while data is in transit over the Internet. This survey data will be aggregated (not individually presented) to protect your anonymity. Despite best efforts, it is possible that your identity can be determined even when data is aggregated. The risk is very minimal as no personal identification or demographic data will be collected.
Voluntary Participation: Your participation in this project is voluntary and you may partake in only those aspects of the survey in which you feel comfortable. You may also decide not to complete the survey or participate in the project. Should you exit the browser, no data will be stored on the survey. You may leave the study at any time without affecting your membership to the association or the groups you have been recruited from. You will be given information that is relevant to your decision to continue or withdraw from participation. You may refuse to answer any question(s) you do not want to answer by skipping the question.
Right to Withdraw: If you withdraw from the study at any time before submission of the survey, the data will be removed from the study and you do not need to offer any reason for making this request. We are collecting anonymous data, data cannot be withdrawn after you have submitted your survey as there is no way to identify your responses.
Conflict of Interest: Researchers have an interest in completing this project. Their interests should not influence your decision to participate by completing this survey.
Debriefing and Dissemination of Results: Conference presentation and manuscript creation from the result of survey and project will be shared. The result will be shared with partnering health care organizations indicates users perceptions of the prototype resources for breastfeeding education. Participants can contact the study team for a summary of the results.
Participant Rights and Concerns: Please read this consent form carefully and feel free to ask the researcher any questions that you might have about the project. If you have any questions about your rights as a participant in this project, complaints, or adverse events, please contact the Research Ethics Office at (905) 721-8668 ext. 3693 or at researchethics@ontariotechu.ca.
If you have any questions concerning the project, please contact the researchers Dr. Jennifer Abbass Dick at 905-721-8668 ext 3735. or Jennifer.AbbassDick@ontariotechu.ca.
By submitting this form, you do not give up any of your legal rights against the investigators, sponsor or involved institutions for compensation, nor does this form relieve the investigators, sponsor or involved institutions of their legal and professional responsibilities.
