IMPROVING THE CONSENT PROCESS FOR LOW LITERACY PARENTS

描述(改编自《调查员摘要》)：同意书适用 确保参与研究的人充分了解情况 他们的权利，以及任何研究的程序、风险和好处 他们同意加入。在这一过程中出现的一个重大问题 获得知情同意涉及提交必要的 信息。为了确保传达完整的信息，许多人同意 表格很长，用专业语言表述。这种复杂语言可能 不适合识字水平较低的目标人群。大有可为 旨在提高参与者理解能力的研究的重点是 同意书的可读性。然而，这样的研究并不能 考虑印刷材料是否仅仅不足以作为一种 为阅读有困难的个人提供交流。很少有研究 已经研究了使用替代媒体作为增加 向低识字率人群提供同意材料。因为 穷人和穷人的孩子患各种疾病的风险特别高 健康、教育和社会弊病，尤其重要的是 在解决他们容易受到伤害的问题的研究中得到代表。 出于这个原因，研究学习如何增加到什么程度 低收入父母理解研究的目的，涉及他们的 儿童招募和同意程序的有效性是 尤其重要的是。本文提出的研究旨在(A) 检查当前使用的同意书的可读性和可理解性 表格，以及(B)检查传递信息的媒介 以低识字率的主体，以家长为代表的学前班儿童。 这将包括开发替代媒体的材料(例如 录像带增强和交互式多媒体演示)和测试 受试者对所提供信息的理解程度，以及他们是否愿意 同意他们的子女参与研究，这是根据这些 各种媒体。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from the Investigator's Abstract): Consent forms serve to guarantee that human beings participating in research are fully informed of their rights and of the procedures, risks, and benefits of any studies they agree to join. One significant problem accruing to the process of obtaining informed consent concerns the presentation of the necessary information. To ensure that complete information is conveyed, many consent forms are long and couched in technical language. Such complex language may not be suitable for target populations where literacy levels are low. Much of the research aimed at improving participant comprehension has focused on the readability of the consent forms. Such research does not, however, consider whether printed material is simply inadequate as a means of communication for individuals who have difficulty reading. Little research has examined the use of alternative media as a means of increasing accessibility of consent material for low-literacy populations. Because the poor and children of the poor are at especially high risk for a variety of health, educational, and social ills, it is particularly important that they be represented in studies addressing problems to which they are vulnerable. For this reason, research to learn how to increase the degree to which low-income parents understand the purposes of research involving their children and the effectiveness of the recruitment and consent process is particularly important. The research proposed herein is designed to (a) examine the readability and comprehensibility of currently employed consent forms, and (b) examine the media through which information is communicated to low-literacy subjects, represented by the parents of Head Start children. This will include the development of materials in alternative media (such as videotape enhancement, and interactive multimedia presentations) and testing subjects' comprehension of information presented, and their willingness to consent to their children's participation in research as a function of these various media.