How to participate:
Email us at allies@psych.ubc.ca or call us at (604) 822-3549.
What does it involve:
We are inviting individuals from the community who are aged 60 or above to participate in this study with a study partner who is aged 18 or above. You will be asked to approach a person you feel close to, who you interact with on a regular basis, who cares about your health, and who you can turn to for support.
This study partner could be a spouse, a friend, an adult child, or another social tie. This person will be your partner for the study. The primary purpose is to consider how social support plays a role in the everyday life of older adults including the impact on their health behaviours and goals set together with a study partner.
If you agree to participate, you and your partner will be invited to a virtual session or online video conference call over Zoom. We will assist you in setting this up. You will be asked to complete a 90 to 150 minute online survey (it is self-paced) asking questions about your background, social relationships, personality, attitudes, health behaviours, and wellbeing. We will also ask COVID-related questions. You can skip any questions you do not feel comfortable answering.
Then, for ten days, we will ask you to complete two 5 to 20 minute online surveys per day: one in the morning and one in the evening. These brief surveys will ask you questions about your current context, your thoughts and how you are feeling, your everyday health behaviours and social interactions. You will receive reminders to complete these questionnaires via email. All components of the study are entirely optional and you can discontinue the study at any time. Our team will always be available via Zoom, email, or phone to assist you with any questions you might have.
Time commitment:
The study takes approximately 10 hours. Should you decide to participate, each partner will receive a gift card or a physical activity tracker.
How will my personal information and data be protected?
Your confidentiality will be respected. All data will be stored on secure, password-protected computers at the University of British Columbia. Questionnaire responses will be stored separately from identifying information. All information you provide will be used solely for research purposes and only members of the research team will have access to the data.
The Principal Investigator may be required to make the de-identified study data publicly available in the future. For example, the de-identified data may be made publicly available in an online repository such as UBC’s digital repository for research and teaching materials, cIRcle. The personal information that we collect from you (specifically, your email address) will never be stored with your survey responses or your study data, and only the Principal Investigator and their designated research staff will have access to any personal information. Even with this effort to maintain privacy, however, there is still the potential that you may be at risk for loss of privacy if the de-identified study data were to be made public. You will not be able to withdraw your data once the data is made publicly available.
This study includes in-person or online meetings using a FIPPA approved UBC zoom licence. Zoom servers are located outside of Canada, and Zoom stores user names and usage data outside of Canada. You can protect your identity by using a nickname or substitute name.