Nelson Mandela once said
when you speak to a man in another language you speak to his ears but when you
speak in his language you speak to his heart. This article explores the importance of obtaining
an informed consent from participants in medical research and why it is necessary
to be precise and direct when engaging the community regarding studies that are
conducted both in a hospital and community settings. For an individual to participate in research one
of the ethical standards is for him/ her to consent or assent whether in
writing or verbally, the process is very easy especially while dealing with
individuals who are literate. According to Ohio State University, when obtaining
an informed consent needs to have an open and honest communication between the
researcher and the study participants, the conversation is not supposed to be
limited to the document that is read rather it can be open.
It’s first July- 2015 and as any other usual
day, a community engagement professional put off ready to do the day’s work.
Usually, community members assemble at a
community ground or at the chief’s court to hear what the 'town folks’ have
brought for them, it’s not unusual- day in day out- organizations and
volunteers bombard the rural areas to explain issues relating to scientific
research. To me, this is a very important
step in as far as scientific research or health research is concerned. Before a
study takes place, stakeholders, schools and more importantly the community
members have to be engaged about the study since some of these people from the
communities will be eligible participants. Apart from that community engagement
contributes to a smooth consenting process and also fulfills the purpose of
respecting rights of the entire community.
Different from other projects that are brought by
developmental organizations into communities health research respect the
principle of autonomy thus about individuals consenting
before participating in a study, one has to do that under a free will. However,
the community members may have a lot of expectations from the study team. Some
may expect to be paid for taking part in the study, with that in mind it is important
to engage communities to share with them the way the study will be conducted,
doing at the beginning is crucial as it will ensure that all eligible
participants have their expectations balanced.
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