Recruiting [USA] Community Health Discussion Session/Survey Study (Reimbursement up to $225)

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socialactionlab

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Sep 21, 2023
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Hello everyone!

My name's Melody and I'm posting on behalf of the Social Action Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. I'm looking to recruit people for our study about community health and the opioid epidemic. The study has been approved by the University of Pennsylvania Institutional Review Board.

The study includes 3 surveys and up to 3 discussion sessions over Zoom (once a week over 3 weeks) or online health education materials. The maximum total time for this study is about 6 hours and compensates a maximum of $225 for completing all activities based on their group assignment. Specifically, details of the compensation for each activity are:
  • Questionnaire - $50
  • Attending an intervention session - $20
  • Going through the online health educational materials - $75
  • Creating an account for GROV - $15.
We are specifically looking for participants who:
  1. Are over 18 years old
  2. Have Zoom access
  3. Currently reside in the states of GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MO, NC, OH, PA, TN, VA, or WV
If you are interested, please fill out this interest form, and we will reach out to you to confirm you meet our study requirements: https://redcap.med.upenn.edu/surveys/?s=D9EP7JN7AE3J943A. Please note that we do collect information like phone numbers, emails, and zip codes.

I can be contacted at [email protected] or via the Bluelight private messaging system.

Thank you for your time!
Melody
 
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@socialactionlab Thank you for posting this opportunity.
At this point I'm unable to access the full consent/participant information sheet as I don't personally meet your criteria, but as a community, we would like to know a lot more about this study before we allow it to be promoted here.
We are not sure how ethics approval has been granted for a study that links people's real name and contact details with an admission of illegal activity.
It's not really safe for participants.
However, if you are able to provide more information, we are happy to further discuss it.

EDIT: these researchers have provided us with documents and I’m happy to approve the study based on those.

There is a serious issue at the moment with any study offering monetary incentives that gets targeted by fraud by bots etc. personally I don’t know how best to handle the problem where there’s the best balance between having legit ppl responding versus people not incriminating themselves. It’s really hard with this kind of research!
 
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For everyone’s info, this study has a certificate of confidentiality which protects the data they collect from being handed to authorities under typical circumstances.

This research is covered by a Certificate of Confidentiality from the National Institutes of Health. This means that the researchers cannot release or use information, documents, or samples that may identify you in any action or suit unless you say it is okay. They also cannot provide them as evidence unless you have agreed. This protection includes federal, state, or local civil, criminal, administrative, legislative, or other proceedings. An example would be a court subpoena.
There are some important things that you need to know. The Certificate DOES NOT stop reporting that federal, state or local laws require. Some examples are laws that require reporting of child or elder abuse, some communicable diseases, and threats to harm yourself or others. The Certificate CANNOT BE USED to stop a sponsoring United States federal or state government agency from checking records or evaluating programs. The Certificate DOES NOT stop disclosures required by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Certificate also DOES NOT prevent your information from being used for other research if allowed by federal regulations.
Researchers may release information about you when you say it is okay. For example, you may give them permission to release information to insurers, medical providers or any other persons not connected with the research. The Certificate of Confidentiality does not stop you from willingly releasing information about your involvement in this research. It also does not prevent you from having access to your own information.
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definitely not data farming, sry i'm just skeptical and want more evidence. usually outreach for paid is irl
 
someguyontheinternet said:
What sort of discussions are involved with the group discussion time over zoom?
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Each of the group discussion sessions will address a specific facet of community wellbeing as follows below:

1. Building Community
2. Community, Family, Health
3. Substance Use Disorders, Services, and Stigma
4. Overdose and Infectious Disease Prevention and HIVServices
5. Advancing Community Health
 
l41n said:
definitely not data farming, sry i'm just skeptical and want more evidence. usually outreach for paid is irl
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I can confirm the study is legit, in that all the documents have been submitted to us here at Bluelight (formal documentation showing ethical approval, etc)
 
@socialactionlab
I did have one query.
Regarding the criteria of current or lifetime use of drugs listed below, is MDMA included? I note cannabis is excluded, so does this mean you are seeking people who have used prohibited drugs in addition to cannabis? Would someone who has used only MDMA and cannabis also be excluded?
GHB is also not on the list. I realise a full drug list is very long and is hard to be inclusive, so just asking if these omissions are intentional or not.
Thanks for clarifying.
Amphetamines (prescription stimulants like Ritalin, Adderall) more than prescribed.
Methamphetamines ("speed", "meth")
Cocaine ("coke", "blow")
Prescription Opioids ( like OxyContin, Vicodin, Percocet) more than prescribed.
Heroin ("smack")
Fentanyl
Hallucinogens ("LSD")
Thinner or other inhalants or solvents (like glue)
Ketamine ("special k")
Prescription pills for anxiety (like diazepam [Valium], lorazepam, alprazolam) more than prescribed.
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Tronica said:
@socialactionlab
I did have one query.
Regarding the criteria of current or lifetime use of drugs listed below, is MDMA included? I note cannabis is excluded, so does this mean you are seeking people who have used prohibited drugs in addition to cannabis? Would someone who has used only MDMA and cannabis also be excluded?
GHB is also not on the list. I realise a full drug list is very long and is hard to be inclusive, so just asking if these omissions are intentional or not.
Thanks for clarifying.
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Great question! I would say we would love more participants who use injection drugs, but people who use other drugs in addition to cannabis would not be excluded. Like you said, a full drug list is just a little hard to create. 😅
 
As an ex-drug on and off user who has been involuntarily institutionalized 1013'd (GA terminology) or Baker Acted (what they call it in FL) many times before, I must admit the sentence that says [paraphrasing], "If the group facilitator finds that you are a danger to yourself or others, then they will immediately notify the proper authorities," to be a HUGE red 🚩 flag.
 
socialactionlab said:
Great question! I would say we would love more participants who use injection drugs, but people who use other drugs in addition to cannabis would not be excluded. Like you said, a full drug list is just a little hard to create. 😅
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The Bluelight community can assist with this question!

Recently my colleagues and I created the following list, which we think is fairly inclusive. Be keen to hear if there's any drug classes anyone reading believes we have left off.

Alcohol
Tobacco
E-cigarette/vaping device that contains nicotine
Cannabis and cannabis products
MDMA/Ecstasy/Molly
Cocaine
Amphetamine
Methamphetamine
Ketamine
GHB/GBL/1,4-butanediol
Nitrous oxide
Amyl nitrite
LSD
2C-B
Other 2C series (C, E, I etc)
Magic mushrooms (psilocybin)
DMT
Other tryptamines (4-AcO-DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, AMT etc)
Prescription benzodiazepines (diazepam, temazepam etc)
Prescription z-drugs (zolpidem, zopiclone etc)
Prescription opioids (oxycontin, morphine, fentanyl etc)
Prescription stimulants (methylphenidate/ritalin, modafinil etc)
Heroin
Synthetic cathinones (ethylone, n-ethyl-pentylone etc)
Other novel stimulants (4-FA, 2-FA etc)
Novel dissociatives (FXE, 2-FDCK etc)
NBOMe series (25I, 25C, 25B etc)
LSD analogues (1P-LSD, ETH-LAD, AL-LAD etc)
Novel benzodiazepines (etizolam, phenazepam etc)
Novel opioids (fentanyl analogues etc)
Synthetic cannabinoids
Anabolic-androgenic steroids
Other drug type/s - please specify
 
Tronica said:
The Bluelight community can assist with this question!

Recently my colleagues and I created the following list, which we think is fairly inclusive. Be keen to hear if there's any drug classes anyone reading believes we have left off.

Alcohol
Tobacco
E-cigarette/vaping device that contains nicotine
Cannabis and cannabis products
MDMA/Ecstasy/Molly
Cocaine
Amphetamine
Methamphetamine
Ketamine
GHB/GBL/1,4-butanediol
Nitrous oxide
Amyl nitrite
LSD
2C-B
Other 2C series (C, E, I etc)
Magic mushrooms (psilocybin)
DMT
Other tryptamines (4-AcO-DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, AMT etc)
Prescription benzodiazepines (diazepam, temazepam etc)
Prescription z-drugs (zolpidem, zopiclone etc)
Prescription opioids (oxycontin, morphine, fentanyl etc)
Prescription stimulants (methylphenidate/ritalin, modafinil etc)
Heroin
Synthetic cathinones (ethylone, n-ethyl-pentylone etc)
Other novel stimulants (4-FA, 2-FA etc)
Novel dissociatives (FXE, 2-FDCK etc)
NBOMe series (25I, 25C, 25B etc)
LSD analogues (1P-LSD, ETH-LAD, AL-LAD etc)
Novel benzodiazepines (etizolam, phenazepam etc)
Novel opioids (fentanyl analogues etc)
Synthetic cannabinoids
Anabolic-androgenic steroids
Other drug type/s - please specify
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imo this should distinguish between pharm fent and street fent / analogues / notazenes.
missing amanita muscaria, kratom, nootropics, kava kava, khat, ayahuasca (or other harmine/harmaline containing preparations as distinguished from raw NN-DMT),
yohimbe, peptides generally.
 
Rectify said:
As an ex-drug on and off user who has been involuntarily institutionalized 1013'd (GA terminology) or Baker Acted (what they call it in FL) many times before, I must admit the sentence that says [paraphrasing], "If the group facilitator finds that you are a danger to yourself or others, then they will immediately notify the proper authorities," to be a HUGE red 🚩 flag.
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That sounds traumatic.
Be interested to see @socialactionlab response to this
But being a researcher myself, I think part of the issue is duty of care or legal liability - for example, if in a research interview or research focus group, someone expresses active suicidal thoughts and the facilitator or researcher ignores these, and the person dies later, we have not acted to prevent that harm.
So, unfortunately, this means there are instances where authorities are called, where later it's found they are not needed.
But if the reverse happens, and authorities are not called and the person dies alone, family may question why researchers didn't act if there were very clear signs given.

When I'm conducting research interviews, I just always mention to the interviewee that there are a few topics we should never discuss as they can trigger actions for me. While talking about past and current drug use is not such an issue, if the interviewee was to describe in complete detail a crime they were about to commit (or a serious crime that occurred in the past), or a harm they were about to do against themselves or others, I'd be bound to do something about it. Having warned people upfront about this for 20 years of doing research interviews, no-one has ever disclosed such information to me during an interview.

So, I think as long as you don't go to those places, you are ok. No researcher wants to or enjoys calling authorities - I've managed to avoid it for 20 years and hopefully will avoid it forever!
 
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