Informed Consent

Public Health Laboratory Focus Group Feedback on DLS Professional Development Service Offerings: Informed Consent

Informed Consent for Participation in Focus Groups

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is conducting focus groups to gather information about our laboratory training and professional development offerings. Your thoughts and experiences will help us improve CDC’s laboratory training and professional development portfolio to better meet the needs of the laboratory community.

If you decide to join in the discussion, here are some things you should know:

• Your participation is completely voluntary.

• Your name will not be used in any reports about this focus group. Our project team members will be taking notes during the discussion, but any written reports or presentations of the information shared will not identify who made specific comments.

• The discussion will be audiotaped so that when we compile and interpret the data, we can make sure we understand everything that was said. The audio recording will be kept in a secure location and destroyed immediately after we verify the accuracy of our notes. Audio recordings for this project will be destroyed by the end of September 2019.

• You do not have to answer any questions that you do not feel comfortable answering. You may discontinue participation at any time, either by leaving the focus group or not answering a question, without penalty.

• Any questions you have will be answered before we begin our discussion. Contact information is provided below for any questions that arise after your participation.

• The focus group will last approximately 60 minutes.

• You will be provided with a copy of this consent form to take with you.

• Please be advised that although we will take every precaution to maintain confidentiality of the data, the nature of focus groups prevents us from guaranteeing complete confidentiality. Participants are reminded to respect the privacy of your fellow participants and not repeat or share what is said in the focus group to others.

• Your participation is beneficial in that the information obtained today will be used to inform existing and future CDC training and professional development offerings.

Contact information: If you have any questions or concerns about your participation in this focus group, please contact Amy Hoying at [email protected] or 404-498-5190.

Your signature below indicates that you understand the above and agree to participate in this group.

Print your name: ________________________ Date: _________________

Signature: ________________________