Who can join the study?
Adults 18+ and children 12-17 with parental consent who have lived in Northwest Alaska (i.e., Kotzebue, Point Hope, Kivalina, Noatak, Noorvik, Kiana, Ambler, Shungnak, Kobuk, Selawik, Buckland, Deering) for at least 5 years.
What is the purpose of the research?
Our aim is to better understand how families store their guns in order to be able to provide appropriate gun safety devices and education. The information that study participants provide will be used to develop a program called the Family Safety Net. The Family Safety Net will include short educational sessions as part of clinic visits, and will give people gun safety devices like trigger locks and other materials to help them safely store their household guns.
What can I expect as a study participant?
We will ask about your knowledge, beliefs, concerns and experiences with firearms in your home. We do not think any of these questions will cause discomfort, but you don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to answer. You can also stop you participation at any time, no problem.
This study is voluntary and your responses are confidential. At the end of the survey, we will ask for your contact information in order to send you your compensation for completing the survey. This information will not be associated with your responses. If you would not like any compensation, you do not have to provide any contact information.
What will you do with the data?
Participant data is confidential, and not linked to names. All data from the region will be combined to find common gun storage beliefs and practices. Participant personal information will NOT be connected with survey answers, which will be kept in a password-protected database. We will not keep participant names or other information that can link participant personal identifiers to survey answers. The results could be published but will not include any information that would let others know who the study participants are.
This research holds a Certificate of Confidentiality (CoC) from the National Institutes of Health. This means that we cannot be forced to disclose any research information that may identify participants, even by a court subpoena, in any federal, state, or local civil, criminal, administrative, legislative, or other proceedings. In general, we will use the Certificate to resist any demands for information that would identify participants, except as described below:
We will disclose participant information for any purpose to which they have consented, as described in this informed consent document. This includes sharing de-identified (no personal identifying) data with other researchers or in reports. We may also disclose information to the appropriate authorities if we suspect or learn about cases of child or elder abuse or neglect, or that if a participant may harm themselves or others.
Who can I contact if I have more questions?
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the following people:
FSN Team Contact Email: [email protected]
Kelsey Porter, UM Study Coordinator
Email: [email protected], Ph: (530) 414 1162
Lisa Wexler, UM Principal Investigator
Email: [email protected]
Bree Swanson, Maniilaq Collaborator
Email: [email protected], Ph: (907) 442-7031