May 2009
Dear Physical or Occupational Therapist:
Introduction
Thank you for clicking on the link to find out more information about this research on stander devices in children. I am asking for your assistance in completing this survey to help to identify the impact of stander device use, understand clinical decision making, and explore factors that influence use of standers. This information is valuable to clinicians, manufacturers, and insurance payers, and will help to identify future research needs. It may produce information that will assist parents and clinicians in the future to make decisions about selection and use of standers. I am hoping to have a total of 250 physical and occupational therapists complete this survey.
This survey is part a research project that I am conducting, as a graduate student in the Department of Rehabilitation Science, University at Buffalo, State University of New York. I am a physical therapist working on my Ph.D. degree.
Volunteer Status
Your participation in the research is of course completely voluntary. If you decide not to participate, it will have no negative consequences to you.
Time Commitment
Completion of the survey will take about 20-30 minutes of your time.
Procedure
Once you have completed reading this information letter, please click forward to the next page to access the survey. Please complete the survey by clicking or typing in the requested information.
Risk
There are no known risks of participating in this survey. All data collected is anonymous.
Consent
Your response to this survey indicates your consent to participation.
Compensation
No compensation will be given for participation in this research.
Confidentiality
All information collected as part of this survey will be anonymous. Your anonymous responses will be stored electronically on a secure computer. None of the data collected will be used to identify particular individuals. All data will be presented in aggregated form only.
Further Information
Would you please complete the electronic survey, as soon as possible? It will take about 20 minutes of your time. Should you have any questions regarding this survey please feel free to contact me (c/o Dr. Lenker) at 716-829-6726 or by email mmazzone@buffalo.edu. Questions about your rights as a research participant can be directed to the Social and Behavioral Institutional Review Board at 716-645-6474 or 516 Capen Hall, SUNY Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260.
Thank you for your help on this project.
Sincerely,
Margaret A. Mazzone, PT, MS
PhD Candidate
Department of Rehabilitation Science
James Lenker, PhD, OTR/L
Assistant Professor
Department of Rehabilitation Science
Director, Assistive Technology Research Laboratory