Towards better-informed consent: Research with livestock-keepers and informal traders in East Africa

With the rise of the One Health paradigm, ethicists have called for new research approaches, considering the interdependent relationships of humans, animals, and their environment. These relationships can be particularly complex within resource-poor, smallholder livestock systems, necessitating a ri...

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Autores principales: Cooper, Tarni L., Kirino, Y., Alonso, Silvia, Lindahl, Johanna F., Grace, Delia
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/73663
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author Cooper, Tarni L.
Kirino, Y.
Alonso, Silvia
Lindahl, Johanna F.
Grace, Delia
author_browse Alonso, Silvia
Cooper, Tarni L.
Grace, Delia
Kirino, Y.
Lindahl, Johanna F.
author_facet Cooper, Tarni L.
Kirino, Y.
Alonso, Silvia
Lindahl, Johanna F.
Grace, Delia
author_sort Cooper, Tarni L.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description With the rise of the One Health paradigm, ethicists have called for new research approaches, considering the interdependent relationships of humans, animals, and their environment. These relationships can be particularly complex within resource-poor, smallholder livestock systems, necessitating a rigorous informed-consent process. Little has been published on informed consent beyond human-subject research. This paper outlines two studies on informed consent, for research identifying diseases of animal and human importance, within smallholder livestock value chains.Firstly, a randomized independent-group study compared three communication tools (written, cartoons, and photographs) for informing 22 Tanzanian livestock-keepers before seeking their consent.A significant difference in comprehension and engagement in the informed-consent process was found between tools, and cartoons had the highest (i.e. best combined comprehension and engagement) scores.Most (21 out of 22) farmers answered half or more the questions correctly, but none were able to answer all questions. Comprehension testing allowed identification of common misunderstandings, such as immediate benefits the farmers would receive and the process to be used for relaying research results.Dialogue stimulated by cartoons and photographs allowed researchers to determine and respond to participants’ varied relationships with their livestock.The second study assessed preferred methods for indicating consent among informal-sector milk vendors in Nairobi, Kenya. Of consenting participants, 61% (140/230) indicated consent verbally, 39% (90/230)signed consent and none chose thumbprint. There was a significant enumerator-effect on both overall consent and the methods chosen.Several of these findings echo those published in human-medical research. Additionally, highlighted here is the importance of facilitating dialogue during the informed-consent process in One Health research, for a more nuanced understanding of relationships between humans, animals, and their environment. Also discussed is how a requirement to sign consent forms might limit consent among workers in informal markets, which are commonly studied in One Health research. We suggest expansion of these, and development of further, studies towards improving consent processes in One Health research.
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spelling CGSpace736632024-05-01T08:16:18Z Towards better-informed consent: Research with livestock-keepers and informal traders in East Africa Cooper, Tarni L. Kirino, Y. Alonso, Silvia Lindahl, Johanna F. Grace, Delia health livestock With the rise of the One Health paradigm, ethicists have called for new research approaches, considering the interdependent relationships of humans, animals, and their environment. These relationships can be particularly complex within resource-poor, smallholder livestock systems, necessitating a rigorous informed-consent process. Little has been published on informed consent beyond human-subject research. This paper outlines two studies on informed consent, for research identifying diseases of animal and human importance, within smallholder livestock value chains.Firstly, a randomized independent-group study compared three communication tools (written, cartoons, and photographs) for informing 22 Tanzanian livestock-keepers before seeking their consent.A significant difference in comprehension and engagement in the informed-consent process was found between tools, and cartoons had the highest (i.e. best combined comprehension and engagement) scores.Most (21 out of 22) farmers answered half or more the questions correctly, but none were able to answer all questions. Comprehension testing allowed identification of common misunderstandings, such as immediate benefits the farmers would receive and the process to be used for relaying research results.Dialogue stimulated by cartoons and photographs allowed researchers to determine and respond to participants’ varied relationships with their livestock.The second study assessed preferred methods for indicating consent among informal-sector milk vendors in Nairobi, Kenya. Of consenting participants, 61% (140/230) indicated consent verbally, 39% (90/230)signed consent and none chose thumbprint. There was a significant enumerator-effect on both overall consent and the methods chosen.Several of these findings echo those published in human-medical research. Additionally, highlighted here is the importance of facilitating dialogue during the informed-consent process in One Health research, for a more nuanced understanding of relationships between humans, animals, and their environment. Also discussed is how a requirement to sign consent forms might limit consent among workers in informal markets, which are commonly studied in One Health research. We suggest expansion of these, and development of further, studies towards improving consent processes in One Health research. 2016-06 2016-05-22T11:56:03Z 2016-05-22T11:56:03Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/73663 en Open Access Elsevier Cooper, T.L., Kirino, Y., Alonso, S., Lindahl, J. and Grace, D. 2016. Towards better-informed consent: Research with livestock-keepers and informal traders in East Africa. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 128: 135-141.
spellingShingle health
livestock
Cooper, Tarni L.
Kirino, Y.
Alonso, Silvia
Lindahl, Johanna F.
Grace, Delia
Towards better-informed consent: Research with livestock-keepers and informal traders in East Africa
title Towards better-informed consent: Research with livestock-keepers and informal traders in East Africa
title_full Towards better-informed consent: Research with livestock-keepers and informal traders in East Africa
title_fullStr Towards better-informed consent: Research with livestock-keepers and informal traders in East Africa
title_full_unstemmed Towards better-informed consent: Research with livestock-keepers and informal traders in East Africa
title_short Towards better-informed consent: Research with livestock-keepers and informal traders in East Africa
title_sort towards better informed consent research with livestock keepers and informal traders in east africa
topic health
livestock
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/73663
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