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Online Research Participant Communication: Balancing Benefits and Risks
Author(s) -
Gelinas Luke,
Morrell Walker,
White Sarah A.,
Bierer Barbara E.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
ethics and human research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.353
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 2578-2363
pISSN - 2578-2355
DOI - 10.1002/eahr.500094
Subject(s) - risk communication , context (archaeology) , internet privacy , knowledge management , psychology , computer science , risk analysis (engineering) , business , paleontology , biology
Online communication has emerged as an important vehicle for participant interaction during the course of clinical research. At the same time, such communication has been identified as a source of risks both for participants and the scientific integrity of clinical trials. Although strategies for mitigating these risks have become a focus in the research community, missing from the discussion has been a sustained and sympathetic effort to understand the various benefits of online communication for participants themselves. In this article, we provide a taxonomy of the benefits of online communication for participants and argue that attempts to mitigate the risks of online communication by discouraging or placing limits on such communication are generally unadvisable. Instead, we advance a context‐sensitive approach that emphasizes education and several actionable recommendations for preserving the benefits of online participant communities while mitigating the risks.