[Nfbnet-members-list] Blind and low-vision participants needed for research study on emergency management planning and training

[Blake, Lou Ann]

The below research participant solicitation is being provided for informational purposes only. The National Federation of the Blind has no involvement in this research, but we believe that it may contribute to our research mission.

Dear Fellow Federationists:

I am a blind graduate student at The Evergreen State College. As part of my capstone project in my Masters of Public Administration class, I will be conducting a research project titled  "Applying Virtual Reality in Emergency Management to Plan, Practice, and Respond to People with Vision Impairment in an Earthquake."   The purpose of my project is to determine how to best include people with disabilities in Emergency Management planning and response. I will be conducting a survey (delivered auditorily or digitally) followed by an interview.

I need to engage with blind or visually impaired people who have had experiences dealing with emergency management services either as a result of an emergency response or as a support person in an emergency response situation. If this is you, I wish to invite you to participate in this endeavor. I will be audio recording these interactions for future transcription, and it would take approximately one hour of your time.

Any risks to you are minimal, and would likely include potential of risks or discomforts when discussing prior experiences with emergency services, loss of time for the survey and interview project, and emotional exhaustion following the interview. My colleagues and I intend to minimize or eliminate risks or discomforts as possible. We will pause as necessary, discontinue the interview upon sense by either the researcher or participant of heightened anxiety, and we will value your time with the greatest of respect. There will be no compensation of any kind available for your participation, which is completely voluntary. You may withdraw your participation at any point or skip any question you do not wish to answer without penalty. You may not directly benefit from this research; however, we hope that your participation in the study may guide our Virtual Reality simulator design and result in greater inclusion of people with disabilities in the planning, practice, and response processes of Emergency Management.

I will not seek personally identifying characteristics beyond required information, I will assign your survey and interview its item number, not use your name or location, and the data will be preserved on an encrypted flash drive for no less than seven years in possession of the researchers. Following the seven years, fire will be used to destroy the flash drives permanently. I may share part or all of this research survey and interview with my faculty advisor, Dr. Lachezar Anguelov, and any other officials of the college legally allowed to investigate my claims based on the data obtained.

As mentioned above, I will use your responses as resource material for my research project on the use of Virtual Reality in training for emergency management to plan and respond to people with disabilities. At your request, I will provide you with a copy of the research paper.  Information gleaned from this research will be presented to my faculty and cohort and may be presented in a public forum at the National Federation of the Blind.

Your answers, collected as part of the research, could be used for future research studies or distributed to another investigator for future research studies, with all identifying information removed, without additional informed consent from the subject or the legally authorized representative.

If you have any questions about this project or your participation in it, you can call me at (253)245-4480. My email address is gr.windclan at gmail.com<https://d.docs.live.net/203537a12b3a6791/Desktop/gr.windclan@gmail.com>. If you have questions concerning your rights as a research subject or experience problems as a result of your participation in this project, contact John McLain, IRB administrator at The Evergreen State College, Library 3207, Olympia, WA 98505; Phone 360.867.6045.

Thank you for your participation and assistance!

Sincerely,

Gloria Rodriguez

Lou Ann Blake, J.D.
Deputy Executive Director, Blindness Initiatives
200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
(410) 659-9314, extension 2221| lblake at nfb.org<mailto:lblake at nfb.org>


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