Hi, I'm conducting a survey on transplantation (admin approved)

An open invitation to everyone in the IHD community

Dear IHD members,

My name is Jamie R. Anderson and I'm a graduate researcher working on a dissertation. For the past 5 years I've been researching transplant issues in Japan and around the world and am currently conducting a study (together with colleagues) on how online support groups empower patients and their families. As part of this research project, we would like to invite you to participate in a short survey to collect your thoughts and feelings on how online spaces like this forum have affected your ability to meet your health needs (or have helped you better understand the situation of family members dealing with illness). We are also interested in how participating in online forums has affected your ability to make informed treatment decisions, and has affected your relation with primary caregivers. Below is a short description of the study.

Study Description: A study of patient empowerment through participation in online support groups
Looking for:

A) Recipients, donors, family members.  
B) Who are pre/post-operation. 
C) Who have used online transplant forums for support and/or information gathering purposes.  
D) Who are at least 16 years of age.

* We are especially interested in attracting participants who frequently read forum posts but who rarely (or never) post questions or responses.

Time Required: The survey takes roughly 15 minutes to complete.

As a token of our appreciation, all participants in this study will be entered into a drawing for one of four $25 Visa gift certificates.

Every precaution will be taken to ensure the privacy of individual forum members and to respect the stated policies of the forum. All data collected from the survey is strictly for research purposes and will be erased from our computers upon completion of the project.

At the completion of the research project, we would be happy to share any findings of the research with any interested members in the forum community.

**** Please feel free to recommend this survey to any acquaintances who meet the criteria listed above. *****

Survey links:

DONORS  https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEtReHJ4MGRBYmRfUVNyV1dmcXF5c2c6MA

FAMILY MEMBERS  https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHRLUXJVUWNIcG1MRUMxZ3dKVU4wYnc6MA

RECIPIENTS  https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGVjZkFLRE0tbV9rZ0tUME8wY0NzNnc6MA

 Thank You in advance for your interest and participation!

Jamie R. Anderson
Doctoral candidate
 Kyoto University Graduate School
 Department of Human and Environmental Studies