Peer Response – Informed Consent

Peer Response – Informed Consent

Responding to Jane Do

Hello Jane,

This is a very informative post. I agree with you. The researcher is responsible for getting each participant’s voluntary and informed permission to be involved in the research. This responsibility does not end there. The research is ethically obligated to safeguard the participant’s autonomy in deciding on their participation throughout the research project. This means that the researcher must be willing to respect the participant’s decisions during the study period and protect their overall welfare (Pimple, 2002). Remarkably, you have noted that getting informed consent requires providing the participants with clear details about the nature, purpose, and possible outcomes of the study.

I believe the first step toward getting fully informed consent is not limiting the information the researcher gives to the participants regardless of how bad it is for their participation. It is also important to further include clear and easy-to-understand details of how the research will be conducted, any risks the study may involve, and what benefits participating in the study may bear. As such, participants have the option to walk out of the study or get involved until it is concluded. The information needed to gain informed consent can be provided orally or through a written physical or electronic form. Electronic or paper-based consent can be applied when collecting the participant’s agreement to participate in the study. However, the use of electronic informed consent is far better than paper-based consent. Notably, the application of electronic informed consent in biomedical research showed that it improved the informed consent process in research (De Sutter et al., 2020). Regardless, the researcher is responsible for addressing all concerns, confusion, questions, and other factors of a study to best inform the participants and gain their trust and agree to participate in the study project.

References

De Sutter, E., Zaçe, D., Boccia, S., Di Pietro, M. L., Geerts, D., Borry, P., & Huys, I. (2020). Implementation of Electronic Informed Consent in Biomedical Research and Stakeholders’ Perspectives: Systematic Review. J Med Internet Res 2020;22(10):E19129 Https://Www.Jmir.Org/2020/10/E19129, 22(10), e19129. https://doi.org/10.2196/19129

Pimple, K. D. (2002). Six domains of research ethics. Science and Engineering Ethics 2002 8:2, 8(2), 191–205. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11948-002-0018-1

Responding to John Do

Hello John,

This is a great post. Indeed, consent is a major ethical consideration in research. It is not just consent but informed consent. The overall responsibility for informed consent in research lies with the researcher. Researchers are ethically and legally expected to provide clarity on all aspects of the research (Josephson & Smale, 2021). Although it may sound like a simple task, ensuring the consent obtained is fully informed and free from coercion is not easy. The researcher has the responsibility of providing all information needed to inform the participants’ decisions to participate or withdraw from the study. This may include the purpose of the study, how the data will be collected, and how the research will affect the participants. However, as you have noted, the participant has the responsibility to understand the information provided. This is the first point the complexity of informed consent arises. Understanding the information is basically subjective. It is hard for the researcher to actually determine if the participant has understood the information provided. Most participants may just sign the consent without reading and understanding the research details provided on the consent form. Subsequently, the question of whether signing the consent form automatically means the consent was fully informed arises.

Another complexity in obtaining informed consent is if there are compensations and rewards for participation. An important question in this regard is, can the knowledge of compensation or reimbursement for participation in the research affect the participant’s willingness to participate in the study? Reimbursement for research participation can be noted as a form of coercion (Largent et al., 2019). Regardless of the reasons for the compensation, it can, to some extent, influence the participant to overlook some important aspects of the research that they may not agree with but still sign the consent form. Therefore, the aspect of informed consent in research ethics can be a hard one to actualize in practice.

References

Josephson, A., & Smale, M. (2021). What Do you Mean by “Informed Consent”? Ethics in Economic Development Research†. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 43(4), 1305–1329. https://doi.org/10.1002/AEPP.13112

Largent, E. A., Emanuel, E. J., & Lynch, H. F. (2019). Filthy Lucre or Fitting Offer? Understanding Worries About Payments to Research Participants. The American Journal of Bioethics, 19(9), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2019.1631076

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PEER RESPONSE 1

The idea of informed consent is one of the International Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights’ fifteen ethical tenets. This concept stresses that before agreeing to engage in research, persons have the right to full disclosure of the nature, purpose, and possible outcomes of the study. Since it safeguards the rights of human subjects and guarantees that they are treated with dignity and respect, informed consent is essential to ethical research (Denis, 2021).

Peer Responses – Informed Consent

A researcher must get each participant’s voluntary and informed permission in order to safeguard informed consent during a research project. This implies that the study’s objective, possible risks and benefits, and any viable alternatives must all be explained in a way that is both obvious and comprehensible to the public. The subject must be capable of interpreting the material and making a choice of their own free will, free from any compulsion or pressure, according to the researcher. Furthermore, the participant must always have the chance to clarify any confusion, ask questions, and withdraw from the study at any point without facing consequences, according to the researcher. The researcher must also make sure that any data they get from participants is kept private and that their privacy is maintained (Denis, 2021).

Researchers may advance ethical research procedures and respect the rights and dignity of human subjects by making sure that the informed consent principle is upheld. Lack of informed consent may have major repercussions, including injury to participants and harm to the research community’s image (Hitchcock, 2021). As a result, it is crucial that scientists give informed consent top priority in their research projects and take all necessary precautions to safeguard the rights of their human subjects.

PEER RESPONSE 2

Science is always evolving and because of this research is very important for the future of science and healthcare. Ethics are a huge part of science and healthcare that nurses must take into consideration. The ethical principle that I have chosen to write about is consent. For research to take place, participants are needed and because of this, consent must be obtained. But what exactly does consent include? “It is the process where a participant is informed about all aspects of the trial, which are important for the participant to make a decision and after studying all aspects of the trial the participant voluntarily confirms his or her willingness to participate in a particular clinical trial and significance of the research for advancement of medical knowledge and social welfare” (Musmade, et al., 2013). It is also important that the participant fully understands all aspects of the research. “The standard view holds that the recipient of consent has a duty to disclose certain information to the profferer of consent because valid consent requires that information to be understood. The concepts of the understanding and disclosure requirements are therefore conceptually linked” (Millum & Bromwich, 2021). This is a safety net for the participants and protects all that are involved in the patient care or medical research. Like I mentioned previously, I think that this is arguably one of the most important principles listed because without consent there are no participants; therefore, there is no research to be done.