Research Survey on Expanding Models of Delivery for Online Spiritual Care
Thank you for clicking the link into this survey!
This survey is part of a scientific study being conducted by researchers at the Colorado School of Mines. You received this survey link because of your experiences, needs, and perspectives related to providing or receiving spiritual care. Since this is part of a scientific study, we will first address some questions about the nature of the research and how to participate in it.
What is the purpose of this research?
Every day, millions of people turn to online support communities to seek information and support for physical, mental, and spiritual health concerns. However, these online spaces have largely formed without the oversight of trained professionals, therefore they may or may not be safe or effective at addressing people’s needs. This research project aims to learn from you how technology designers can improve online communities so that the public can receive more information and access to evidence-based spiritual care. The survey will ask questions about the design, acceptability, and feasibility of online care communities.
Who is eligible to participate?
No prior experience with online communities or social media is required. To be eligible, you must be 18+ years of age or older. You must also have at least one of the following roles: patient; caregiver; friend or family member of patients; user who participates in online support communities; professional chaplain, practicing or retired spiritual care provider, or religious/spiritual leader; professional working in (or retired from) spiritual care or chaplaincy education, research, or management; professional-in-training for spiritual care.
What is needed of me if I want to participate?
The only thing you need to do is take this survey online. It will require approximately 10-20 minutes. Your participation is voluntary; you can stop answering questions at any time.
Are there any risks?
There are no serious risks associated with this survey beyond the risk of emotional discomfort in addressing questions about health and spiritual care needs.
What are the benefits of participating?
If you provide a valid email address at the end of the survey, you can enter into a drawing for one of 20 Amazon e-gift cards valued at $20 each. Your participation in this study will contribute scientific knowledge toward designing and maintaining safe, effective, and evidence-based online spiritual care communities. Our research team will use these findings to develop technical guidelines so that we can work toward building and supporting real online communities in the future. We hope this work can eventually help millions of users access better online spiritual care.
Is my participation confidential?
All information obtained about you for this study will be treated as confidential to the extent allowed by law. Research information that identifies you may be shared with the Colorado School of Mines Human Subjects Team and others who are responsible for ensuring compliance with laws and regulations related to research. You are not required to provide your name or contact information. The survey collects optional demographic information.
All data will be stored on a password-protected Mines’ Network Drive and retained for at least three years. All raw data will be accessible only to authorized research personnel. Personally identifying information will be removed from the data during analysis to ensure your confidentiality. The results of this study may be published in a scientific paper, but no information that could identify you will be included in any papers. A de-identified dataset may be published with the paper in a secure repository for Open Science.
Can I withdraw my data later on if I change my mind?
Yes, you have rights around the protection and movement of your data. This consent form provides transparency to the data collected about you and how it will be used. To withdraw your data, inform the Principal Investigator of your intention to withdraw your data. Please note that it will not be possible to extract your individual data from the survey later unless you provide an email address that can be connected to your survey response.
What do I do if I have any issues with the survey?
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints, or think this research has injured you in any way, please contact the Principal Investigator, Professor Estelle Smith, at estellesmith@mines.edu.
This study (ID 2023-035) was reviewed and approved by the Colorado School of Mines Office of Human Subjects Research (HSR). If you have questions about your rights as a research participant, please contact the HSR team at humansubjects@mines.edu.
Who is sponsoring this research?
Consent to participate.
If you’d like to participate, please answer the following two questions. By answering “Yes” to both questions, and by clicking on the button to proceed to the survey, you agree to participate in this research study as described above.
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