Replies week 4 MSN5300
Please include a 200 words in two answers to peers
1.The economic and human costs associated with Alzheimer’s disease have prompted various research studies into the matter. A key topic of research and evaluation is the family’s role or obligation in caring for Alzheimer’s patients, especially parents. Such studies need to incorporate ethical considerations as they involve human beings, sensitive and vulnerable medical and care information, and contribute to knowledge development of the matter; thus, they should be done in the right way to improve the credibility and reliability of the information in the research. Ethical considerations are guidelines and principles that guide research and ensure the research process does not violate any human rights or academic regulations.
Martinez et al. (2022) conducted a qualitative study to understand the dynamics of caregiving of patients with Alzheimer’s within the Latino community because of their emphasis on familism. The study conducted interviews as its primary data collection method, which mandated various ethical considerations. Therefore, Martinez et al. obtained approval from their university’s Institutional Review Board, and informed consent was obtained before the interview. In another study to understand the caregiver’s perception of the unmet palliative care needs in Iranian Alzheimer’s patients, Ashrafizadeh et al. (2021) conducted a qualitative study. In this study, the authors mention that they incorporated various ethical considerations, including approval by the respective university’s Ethics committee. Additionally, they incorporated the voluntary nature of participation, obtained informed written consent forms and anonymity of the participants, and informed them of their right to withdraw from the study at any point. Further, they ensured the confidentiality of the information provided by the participants and guaranteed of using the said information for the sole purpose of the research.
In a cross-sectional study that involved fifty formal caregivers and fifty informal caregivers of Alzheimer’s disease patients, Sołtys & Tyburski (2020) sought to understand the predictors of mental health problems among these caregivers. The authors ensured that all surveyed caregivers willingly agreed to participate, and an ethics committee approved the study. Also, participants provided informed consent. Ashrafizadeh et al. (2021) ethical approach was relatively different, as the key ethical considerations were approval and the participant’s rights. This is seen in how the study guaranteed anonymity by providing nicknames for the participants that also assured confidentiality of the information provided. The participants were also assured of the publication of the results. At the same time, the authors obtained both oral and written consent to ensure the participants understood their involvement, including their right to withdraw from the study. Ethical considerations are similar as long as they involve human participants, even through virtual communication. Rodríguez-Mora et al conducted their interviews virtually but also had to seek informed consent and approval, and in this case, ensure no harm came to the participants by upholding the containment measures as the study was conducted during the recent pandemic.
2. Ethical approaches in research studies entail setting principles that help achieve the goal of research designs and practices. The approaches help the researchers to achieve a code of conduct when interacting with people to collect data. The primary goals of any short or comprehensive research entail enhancing the research validity, maintaining scientific or academic integrity, and acknowledging researchers who performed various research earlier. These practices are mainly for the research conducted using printed or recorded data sources.
Human research entails comprehensive ethical considerations, with voluntary participation being one of them. There is no pressure or compulsion used on any research participants to participate. Everyone enrolled in the study can stop at any time without feeling obligated to continue (Newman et al., 2021). Participants cannot be coerced into justifying leaving the study. As a result, it is critical to make it evident to participants that declining to participate will not have any detrimental effects.
Another consideration is whether participants provided informed consent and where the data was collected. The prospective participants should be provided with and comprehend the information necessary for making a participation decision (Newman et al., 2021). This includes information about the study’s advantages, hazards, funding, and institutional endorsement. Participants should be given a text to read and asked if they have any questions before proceeding. They can initial or sign the consent form if they are willing to participate. When working with particularly vulnerable groups of people, remember that this might not be enough to obtain informed consent.
Further confidentiality must be integrated into research by granting all participants the right to privacy. The researchers must protect participants’ data for a long provided they hold it (Horton & Lucassen, 2023). this consideration should be maintained when the data is collected anonymously. Assumptions such as research process grant confidentiality automatically grants confidentiality should not be taken (Horton & Lucassen, 2023). Some research designs are not conducive to confidentiality, but it is essential to make all attempts and inform participants of the risks involved. Therefore, achieving confidentiality should be explicitly planned for and met by the researchers.
In conclusion, ethical approaches to conducting research should entail observing a code of conduct that enhances research validity when collecting, storing, and interpreting data. Academic integrity should be considered when dealing with records. In human research, participants should be allowed to provide data voluntarily. They should be informed of the research details before being subjected to the research participation. Confidentiality of personal information should be significantly upheld even when research designs do not appear to favor confidentiality. Thus, researchers must ensure that research validity is enhanced by taking the ideal measures of research ethics.
