For anyone interested in my study - I have included the detailed participant information sheet below. I look forward to reading about your experiences, thoughts and ideas. Please feel free to post any questions here or contact me on
[email protected] Thanks
Jana
INFORMATION SHEET FOR PARTICIPANTS
REC Reference Number: PNM/14/15-69
YOU WILL BE EMAILED A COPY OF THIS INFORMATION SHEET IF YOU WISH
Using social media to explore helpful responses to an event of self-harm as experienced by individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder
I would like to invite you to take part in my research study, which I am completing as part of my MSc dissertation in mental health nursing. Please feel free to participate if you would like to contribute to this study, but do not feel that you have to. Choosing not to take part in this study will not disadvantage you in any way.
Before you make your decision, it is important that you understand why this research is done and what your taking part in it will entail. To help you with this, I have provided the most important information below. Please take your time reading this and discussing it with others if you wish. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you might have and I will be happy to help.
What is the purpose of the study?
The aim of the study is to investigate helpful interventions for individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder following an event of self-harm. I am specifically interested in the perspective of the individuals experiencing these interventions so as to be able to inform clinical practice from their viewpoint. The aim of this project is to add to the small existing body of research so as to contribute to improving patient experience and clinician guidelines towards an approach centred around the needs of individuals suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder and associated self-harming behaviour.
Why have I been invited to take part?
I am inviting people to take part in this study who have a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder and have previously had an experience of accessing support following an event of self-harm.
Do I have to take part?
Taking part in this study is voluntary, that means you do not have to take part in this study. Before agreeing to participate, please make sure that all your questions relating to this study have been answered, either by this information or by contacting me directly.
What will happen to me if I take part?
Once you have read the information sheet and have decided to take part in this study all you need to do is to join this discussion thread or email me directly, stating that you wish to participate in the study. You are free to decide whether you would like to reply on the discussion thread or if you would prefer to email me directly. On the discussion thread your responses will be visible to other members of the forum. Once I have received your personal story, I may contact you to clarify with you that I have not misunderstood your account. I may also ask you to explain parts of your story in more detail.
You are free to stop taking part in this study at any point during its duration without having to state any reason. This remains the case after you have contributed your own story. However, it may be difficult to withdraw any responses you have already contributed, as they will have become part of the interactive forum discussion and may be closely interlinked with other participants’ contributions.
What are the possible risks of taking part?
The risk attached to participating in this study is the potential stress and upset it might cause you to revisit a difficult experience from your life. If you should feel upset or distressed by your participation in this study, please feel free to contact me with any concerns or discontinue your participation.
There is also a risk that reading others’ accounts of their experiences of being admitted to hospital as a result of self-harming behaviour might trigger thoughts about self-harm for you. To help you and other participants avoid this risk I would ask that you label potentially triggering posts with a capitalised ‘TRIGGER’ as well as contacting me if there is a potentially triggering post in the forum which has not been labelled as such.
What are the possible benefits of taking part?
Some people find it helpful to think and write about their experiences and you may find other participants’ discussion and comments supportive. There are no other immediate benefits of taking part in this study. However, this is your chance to contribute with your personal story, to research directly concerned with your experience of current clinical practice. This means that both what you have found helpful and less helpful in your past experiences will be recorded and has the potential to influence clinical practice and people’s experience of it in the future.
Will my taking part be kept confidential?
I will not be asking you for any personal details other than the name you decided to use in this forum or on Facebook and your email address, should you wish to contact me directly. I will make sure that any data contributed by you and subsequently stored by me is kept securely in an encrypted file. All of your contributions will be anonymised, that is I will assign your data a name different from your Internet identity, which will also be used for reporting my findings, in order to make sure that you as an individual cannot be linked to your contribution to this study.
The UK Data Protection Act (1998) will apply to all of your contributions to this study. Confidentiality of your data stored by the social media sites or your email provider remains their responsibility.
How is the project being funded?
This project is not attached to a major funding body; it has been approved by the Psychiatry, Nursing and Midwifery (PNM) Research Ethics Subcommittee (RESC) at King’s College London.
What will happen to the results of the study?
The results of this research project will build the foundation for my MSc thesis in mental health nursing. Once the study has been completed, I will produce a report summarising the main findings and publish this in the forums and the linked Facebook page. I will also be happy to email you your own copy should you wish.
Who should I contact for further information?
If you have any questions or require more information about this study, please contact me using the following contact details:
Email:
[email protected]Or telephone my project supervisor, Ian Noonan on 020 7848 3627
What if I have further questions, or if something goes wrong?
If this study has harmed you in any way or if you wish to make a complaint about the conduct of the study you can contact King's College London using the details below for further advice and information:
Ian Noonan
King’s College London
James Clerk Maxwell Building
57 Waterloo Road
London
SE1 8WA
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7848 3627
Email:
[email protected]Thank you for reading this information sheet and for considering taking part in this research.