Opinions of patients with psychosis, caregivers and key stakeholders on informed consent for research involving people with mental health conditions
Wellcome Trust
University of Botswana
Research involving people with mental health conditions (PWMHC) has its unique ethical challenges. Conducting research among human participants requires obtaining informed consent. However, PWMHC may have impaired decision-making capacity, which may invalidate consent. Often, surrogates are resorted to for consent which may undermine the autonomy of PWMHC. As a result, this study investigates participants' opinions from Low-and-Middle Income Countries (LMICs) on informed consent for research involving PWMHC. It is expected that the outcome will contribute to academic literature and discussions on this issue. This study will be in three stages. The first will be a systematic review of empirical studies on informed consent for research involving PWMHC. This will guide the second study, which will utilise qualitative methods to explore the views of patients with psychosis and their caregivers on informed consent for research involving PWMHC. In-depth interviews will be conducted among 15 patients and caregivers dyads who will be purposefully selected from Sbrana Psychiatric Hospital (SPH) in Botswana. The third will involve in-depth interviews with 15 key stakeholders involved in mental health research and policy. Data will be collected using an interview schedule developed and piloted by the researchers and analysed with the NViVo Software using the Framework Method.
8.3 Policy, ethics and research governance