Reference number: ERGO/FEPS/76885
Submission version: 6
Date: 2022-10-17
Name of investigator(s): m.c. schraefel, Nick Maguire, Marion Demossier, Pauline Leonard, Fraser Sturt, Richard Gomer
You are being invited to take part in the “Strength at Work’s” “MOVE Eat Burn BUILD Better” research study. To help you decide whether you would like to take part or not, it is important that you understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please read the information below carefully and ask questions if anything is not clear or you would like more information before you decide to take part in this research. You may like to discuss it with others, but it is up to you to decide whether or not to take part. If you are happy to participate you will be asked to give consent to participating in this research.
What is the research about?
The research is about people’s experiences exploring movement and/or eating knowledge skills and practice. In the Strength at Work study, we have focussed on principles of movement for strength. In MOVE Eat Burn Build Better, we are exploring heuristics you can try out about moving, about eating, to see how they work for you. The Move Eat Burn Build Better study series lets you explore both Move and Eat.
Our goal is to learn with you how these types of presentations offers potentially new ways to explore eating and moving practices – to help you make informed choices about these approaches to help you feel better. What we learn we share in reports, publications in peer reviewed research, and as knowledge sharing for employers – like the university – to better undrestand how to create enviornments/resources that help us feel better.
Why have I been invited to participate?
You have been invited to participate because you are a member of staff at the University of Southampton, employed in a participating faculty or service or already taking part in a non-research wellbeing programme, such as Move Eat Burn Build Better, and are at least 18 years old.
If you do not meet those criteria, you should not participate in this study.
What will happen to me if I take part?
During the series, you will be invited to try out a weekly series of experiments. We’re asking that people install an app on your smartphone which will both guide the experiments and help record your experiences of them.
Experiments range from teseting simple “movement snacks” (short movements that take only a minute or so) to longer movement activities (such as walking for a period of time), tasks which will help you to learn more about strength and movement. Other experiments may ask you to try out eating a particular colour of vegetable for a few days.
During the study, you will be asked to provide where you were when doing a the experiment that day (at home; eating out that sort of thing). We will also ask you to think about how the experience of the experiment feels from day to day and to add some of these reflections. We will not collect data specifically about your health, but we will ask you for some limited data about your physical condition – for example, how you did a particular move, or how well rested you feel. All of the experiments and the questions you’ll be asked are voluntary – so you won’t have to do, or answer, anything that you are uncomfortable with.
You may, if you choose, join the Study team on Microsoft Teams, where you will be able to find more information about the study, take part in feedback sessions with the investigators, and talk to other participants. If you choose to join the Team, your name will be visible to other participants and to the study investigators. We might use things that you post in the Team to improve the study app, or to further our understanding of the research topic. However, we will not link your activity in the Team to your wider participation, and we will not share any identifiable data from the Team with anybody who is not either a member of the Team itself or one of the investigators.
Are there any benefits in my taking part?
Your participation will help us both understand how our approach works to support building lasting health and wellbeing knowledge skills and practice. We expect that many participants will feel better and develop healthy strength, movement and eating practices as a result of taking part in the experiments.
Are there any risks involved?
There are no significant risks associated with the current study beyond those which you might encounter in your day-to-day life. However, if at any point you feel uncomfortable please let the researchers know immediately.
You should be aware that during the study some of the activities will prompt reflection on your body’s current state, and your eating habits. If you have ever suffered from an eating disorder, body dysmorphia or similar condition, you should consider whether participating might pose a risk to your mental health or wellbeing.
What data will be collected?
We will collect information through the app about the tasks that you take part in, as well as some information about you, like your age, job family, and the service or faculty that you work in.
We usually host an additional Microsoft Teams channel to support group questions and recommendations during the course of participation in the study. We may collect observations/comments you choose to share in Microsoft Teams, for example answers to questions that we ask or tips and insights that you wish to share with other participants. These help us understand how to better tune the approach to work better for participants. When we host live Teams meetings, these will be recorded for the benefit of other participants and so that we can learn from the things you tell us. You should not share anything in Teams that you would not share in a public forum.
Will my participation be confidential?
Information that can be linked to you will be kept strictly confidential, but you may choose to share with colleagues that you are taking part. In some faculties or services, you may need to tell your line manager that you are participating. Data that we collect during the study will NOT be shared your line manager; and only anonymous results will be shared in publications or with the University.
We will create some anonymous datasets, which cannot be linked back to you or any specific individual, and will share those datasets as ‘open data’, available for anybody to analyse.
Only members of the research team and responsible members of the University of Southampton may be given access to your personal data. Personal data will be used only for research purposes, for monitoring purposes, and/or to carry out an audit of the study to ensure that the research is complying with applicable regulations. Individuals from regulatory authorities (people who check that we are carrying out the study correctly) may require access to your data. All of these people have a duty to keep your information, as a research participant, strictly confidential.
As far as possible, your data will be kept secure. We will not publish any datasets or findings that could be linked back to you, or which disclose your identity or personal involvement in the study.
If you choose to participate in the Microsoft Teams group, your membership of the group and any data you share as text or during a live call will be available to other members of the group.
Do I have to take part?
No, it is entirely up to you to decide whether or not to take part. If you decide you want to take part, you will need to sign a consent form to show you have agreed to take part.
Your faculty or service, manager or colleagues cannot insist that you take part in this study; and you should not feel that you have to take part.
What happens if I change my mind?
You have the right to change your mind and withdraw at any time without giving a reason and without your participant rights being affected.
What will happen to the results of the research?
Your personal details will remain strictly confidential. Research findings made available in any reports or publications will not include information that can directly identify you without your specific consent.
The results of the study will be used in writing up a research paper, may be included in publications, and may also be used to inform related studies.
Where can I get more information?
If you have any further questions regarding the study, please email Prof m.c. schraefel – mc@ecs.soton.ac.uk
What happens if there is a problem?
If you have a concern about any aspect of this study, you should speak to the researchers who will do their best to answer your questions.
If you remain unhappy or have a complaint about any aspect of this study, please contact the University of Southampton Research Integrity and Governance Manager (023 8059 5058, rgoinfo@soton.ac.uk).
Data Protection Privacy Notice
The University of Southampton conducts research to the highest standards of research integrity. As a publicly-funded organisation, the University has to ensure that it is in the public interest when we use personally-identifiable information about people who have agreed to take part in research. This means that when you agree to take part in a research study, we will use information about you in the ways needed, and for the purposes specified, to conduct and complete the research project. Under data protection law, ‘Personal data’ means any information that relates to and is capable of identifying a living individual. The University’s data protection policy governs the use of personal data by the University.
This Participant Information Sheet tells you what data will be collected for this project and whether this includes any personal data. Please ask the research team if you have any questions or are unclear what data is being collected about you.
Our privacy notice for research participants provides more information on how the University of Southampton collects and uses your personal data when you take part in one of our research projects.
Any personal data we collect in this study will be used only for the purposes of carrying out our research and will be handled according to the University’s policies in line with data protection law. If any personal data is used from which you can be identified directly, it will not be disclosed to anyone else without your consent unless the University of Southampton is required by law to disclose it.
Data protection law requires us to have a valid legal reason (‘lawful basis’) to process and use your Personal data. The lawful basis for processing personal information in this research study is for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. Personal data collected for research will not be used for any other purpose.
For the purposes of data protection law, the University of Southampton is the ‘Data Controller’ for this study, which means that we are responsible for looking after your information and using it properly. The University of Southampton will keep identifiable information about you for 1 year after the study has finished after which time any link between you and your information will be removed.
To safeguard your rights, we will use the minimum personal data necessary to achieve our research study objectives. Your data protection rights – such as to access, change, or transfer such information – may be limited, however, in order for the research output to be reliable and accurate. The University will not do anything with your personal data that you would not reasonably expect.
If you have any questions about how your personal data is used, or wish to exercise any of your rights, please consult the University’s data protection webpage (https://www.southampton.ac.uk/legalservices/what-we-do/data-protection-and-foi.page) where you can make a request using our online form. If you need further assistance, please contact the University’s Data Protection Officer (data.protection@soton.ac.uk).
Thank you for taking the time to read the information sheet and considering taking part in the research.