Challenges of Ethical Clearance in International Health Policy and Social Sciences Research: Experiences and Recommendations from a Multi-Country Research Programme

Edwards, Nancy; Viehbeck, Sarah; Hämäläinen, Riitta-Maija; Rus, Diana; Skovgaard, Thomas; Goor, Ien van de; Valente, Adriana; Syed, Mohamed Ahmed; Aro, Arja R.

doi:10.1007/bf03391663

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Ethics clearance was done in each country according to country-specific regulations and procedures (for details see Ref. [31] : Edwards et al); however, irrespective of each country’s requirements, informed consent was obtained from all participants. Ethical Committees for each country included were as follows: Ethics Committee of the Region of South Denmark and the National Data protection Agency (DK); Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (NL); Research Ethical Committee of the National Health and Welfare Institute (FI); Ethics Committee of the University of Babes-Bolyai (RO); National Research Council Research Ethics and Bioethics Advisory Committee (IT); Health and Social Sciences Review Board of University of Ottawa (CA); Ethics approval by the Research Councils UK (UK).…”

Section: Methods and Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of evidence use in public health policy making: Results from a study across six EU countries

Goor

Hämäläinen

Syed³

et al. 2017

Health Policy

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HighlightsMedia attitude towards underpinning policy with evidence influences policy decision makers.Individual skills, attitudes, values of policy makers impact the extent evidence use.A solid research infrastructure is facilitating but not sufficient for evidence use.Factors that impact evidence use in policy making differ by country and policy context.Interventions connecting policy makers and researchers in the policy context seem most promising.

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Section: Methods and Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of evidence use in public health policy making: Results from a study across six EU countries

Goor

Hämäläinen

Syed³

et al. 2017

Health Policy

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“…As Edwards et al contend, 'Formal requirements for ethics review should not, in and of themselves, set the bar for good ethical practices'. 29 There is a need to develop ethics guidelines that have greater capacity and flexibility to consider culturally and contextually specific issues in order to support participant, community and researcher well being, as well as research integrity.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Navigating the ethics of cross‐cultural health promotion research

Haintz

Graham

McKenzie

2015

Health Prom J of Aust

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Health promotion researchers must consider the ethics of their research, and are usually required to abide by a set of ethical requirements stipulated by governing bodies (such as the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council) and human research ethics committees (HRECs). These requirements address both deontological (rule-based) and consequence-based issues. However, at times there can be a disconnect between the requirements of deontological issues and the cultural sensitivity required when research is set in cultural contexts and settings etic to the HREC. This poses a challenge for health promotion researchers who must negotiate between meeting both the requirements of the HREC and the needs of the community with whom the research is being conducted. Drawing on two case studies, this paper discusses examples from cross-cultural health promotion research in Australian and international settings where disconnect arose and negotiation was required to appropriately meet the needs of all parties. The examples relate to issues of participant recruitment and informed consent, participants under the Australian legal age of consent, participant withdrawal when this seemingly occurs in an ad hoc rather than a formal manner and reciprocity. Although these approaches are context specific, they highlight issues for consideration to advance more culturally appropriate practice in research ethics and suggest ways a stronger anthropological lens can be applied to research ethics to overcome these challenges.

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“…The REPOPA Coordinator developed an Ethics Road Map and Ethics Guidance Document to coordinate varying national ethics clearance procedures in partner countries. Ethics clearance was done in each country according to country-specific regulations and procedures (for details see [27]). Irrespective of the country requirements, the informed consent of all participants was obtained.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An evaluation of equity and equality in physical activity policies in four European countries

Hämäläinen

Sandu

Syed

et al. 2016

Int J Equity Health

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BackgroundThere is strong research evidence on the importance of health equity and equality for wellbeing in societies. As chronic non-communicable diseases are widespread, the positive impact of physical activity (PA) on health has gained importance. However, PA at the population level is far from optimal. PA depends not only on individual factors, but also on policies for PA in sport, health, transport, education and other sectors, on social and cultural factors, and on the environment. Addressing health inequalities and inequities in PA promotion policies could benefit from policy development processes based on partnership and collaboration between various sectors, researchers, practitioners and policy makers (= cross-sectoral, evidence-informed policy making). The objective of this article is to describe how equity and equality was addressed in PA policies in four EU member states (Denmark, Finland, Romania and England), who were partners in the REPOPA project (www.repopa.eu, EC/FP7/Health Research/GA 281532).MethodsContent analysis of 14 PA policies and 61 interviews were undertaken between 2012 and 2013 with stakeholders involved in developing PA policies in partner countries.ResultsEven though specific population subgroups were mentioned in the policy documents analysed, they were not necessarily defined as vulnerable populations nor was there a mention of additional emphasis to support such groups from being marginalised by the policy due to inequity or inequality. There were no clear objectives and activities in the analysed policies suggesting commitment of additional resources in favour of such groups. Addressing equity and equality were often not included in the core aims of the policies analysed; these aspects were mentioned in the background of the policy documents analysed, without being explicitly stated in the aims or activities of the policies. In order to tackle health inequities and inequalities and their consequences on the health status of different population subgroups, a more instrumental approach to health equality and equity in PA promotion policies is needed. Policies should include aims to address health inequalities and inequities as fundamental objectives and also consider opportunities to allocate resources to reduce them for identified groups in this regard: the socially excluded, the remote, and the poor.ConclusionsThe inclusion of aspects related to health inequalities and inequities in PA policies needs monitoring, evaluation and transparent accountability if we are to see the best gains in health of socially disadvantaged group. To tackle health inequities and inequalities governance structures need to take into consideration proportionate universalism. Thus, to achieve change in the social determinants of health, policy makers should pay attention to PA and proportionally invest for universal access to PA services. PA promotion advocates should develop a deeper awareness of political and policy structures and require more equity and equality in PA policies from those who they ...

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Challenges of Ethical Clearance in International Health Policy and Social Sciences Research: Experiences and Recommendations from a Multi-Country Research Programme

Cited by 15 publications

References 4 publications

Determinants of evidence use in public health policy making: Results from a study across six EU countries

Determinants of evidence use in public health policy making: Results from a study across six EU countries

Navigating the ethics of cross‐cultural health promotion research

An evaluation of equity and equality in physical activity policies in four European countries

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