Appendix F2 - Post-Intervention Home Visit Notification Letter

<Month> <Day>, <Year>

<First Name> <Last Name>

<Street Address>

<City>, <State> <Zip>

Dear <First Name>:

You may recall that about 6 months ago, we worked with the <Fire Department> to install smoke alarms in homes in your area. According to our records, you participated in our surveys and had <Number Installed> smoke alarm(s) installed in your home on <Street Address>. I am writing to you today and request your help in a follow-up home visit regarding fire safety.

In the next few weeks, an interviewer from RTI International, a non-profit research organization, will be calling you to schedule a home visit. The visit will consist of questions about the smoke alarms that the <Fire Department> installed in your home, about your home, and about your opinions and beliefs regarding fire safety, as well as testing your smoke alarms. This visit is part of an important study regarding smoke alarms and fire safety being conducted on behalf of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). RTI International is working with the Injury Prevention Research Program at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center, and the Injury Prevention Division of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

Please be assured that both the RTI International and all other participating organizations will follow strict confidentiality procedures to protect the privacy of all study participants and the confidentiality of the information collected.  Information from all survey participants will be combined to produce reports for the CDC; no individual information will be reported at any time.

The visit will take not more that one hour, and we will be available at that time to answer any questions you may have about fire safety. The visit is completely voluntary, and you have the right to refuse to answer any and all of the questions in it. If we call at a bad time, the interviewer will be happy to make an appointment to call back at a better time.

If you have any questions about the study, please call the data collection manager, Mr. David Roe, toll-free at 1-800-334-8571, ext 3598.  If you have any questions about your rights as a study participant, please call RTI’s Office of Research Protection toll-free at 1-866-214-2043.

We would greatly appreciate your participation in this important study. 

Sincerely,

[Insert signature]

Jon Poehlman, Ph.D.

Director, Smoke Alarm Installation and Safety Education (SAIFE) Evaluation Project