RECRUITMENT STARTED!!
Study Information
Study Title: Social and workplace lived experiences of cancer patients in Newfoundland and Labrador
Why do we want to conduct this research?
Cancer is a common disease affecting our population. Understanding experiences of individuals living with, through, or beyond cancer is important in order to inform social, workplace, and healthcare programs and policies.
What are our goals?
We aim to understand cancer patients’ experiences regarding their social and workplace interactions in Newfoundland and Labrador population.
We also would like to know whether these experiences differ between:
- individuals from different geographic regions of NL,
- individuals diagnosed with cancer at a young age (before 45 years of age), and
- individuals, who are members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
How are we going to achieve our goals?
We will invite interested individuals to join for a group discussion over the phone or in a virtual meeting. Meetings will be recorded so that we can transcribe the discussions. These discussions will then be analyzed to distill key points.
We will repeat these steps for each patient group that we describe above. We will then compare the key points identified from each group.
We will also ask you to provide us basic information about yourself, your economic status, employment, and disease (cancer).
Why participate in this study?
Our previous studies and interactions with cancer-affected individuals indicated that there may be changes in social and workplace experiences following a cancer diagnosis. By conducting this study, we hope that we will get a better understanding of these experiences.
Understanding cancer patients’ experiences about their social and workplace interactions in turn can help with future experiences and practices. For example, it can:
1) inform public education programs and campaigns
2) improve life experiences of cancer patients, their quality of life and social outcomes
3) implement better healthcare and social support services as well as workplace policies
4) move towards a more inclusive society
These changes then can positively impact the life and workplace experiences of future cancer patients in our province (and possibly beyond).
Who can participate in this study?
Individuals who:
-reside in Newfoundland and Labrador;
-are at least 18 years of age;
-have had a cancer diagnosed in the last 5 years (at the time of recruitment);
-have worked following their diagnoses;
-can use and have access to phone or internet and computer
are eligible to participate.
Additionally: we are looking for individuals diagnosed with cancer in each of the Regional Health Authority Regions (Eastern, Western, Central, Labrador and Grenfell),
or those who are diagnosed with cancer before the age of 45 years of age,
or those who identify as members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community
How can you participate?
Please contact the research team.
Ms. Krista King is the graduate student, who will be conducting the focus group discussions and other procedures. Krista will be happy to talk to you about this study and answer any of your questions. Krista can be reached at 709-864-4618 or krista.king@mun.ca.
Dr. Sevtap Savas is the scientist leading this project. She can be reached at 709-864 6507 or savas@mun.ca.
You are eligible to enter in a prize draw (This section is added on Jan 19, 2024)
We would like to offer you the option to enter a prize draw. If you choose this option, you will be asked to provide your name and mailing information to be entered into a prize draw to win 1 of 10, $25 gift cards (e.g. from Sobeys). Lottery winners will be chosen at random. The odds of winning will depend on the number of people who choose to enter the draw. You will have the option to express your acceptance of the offer any time until a week after your focus group discussion session. This procedure will be overseen by Krista King.
Health Research Ethics Board
If you have any questions regarding your rights as a participant, you can contact the Health Ethics Research Board in St. John’s at 709-864-8871 (phone number is updated on Jan 19, 2024) or info@hrea.ca.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST.
UPDATED STUDY INFORMATION SHEET (Updated on Jan 19, 2024)
***As of Jan 19, 2024: The Updated Study Information Letter added above replaces the initial letter shown below.