Overview
You are invited to participate in this research study that aims to learn what types of documents and other material artifacts work to help patients understand their illness, make them feel supported, and help them make meaning from their medical situation. The following information is provided in order to help you make an informed decision about whether to participate.  You are eligible to participate because you have had cancer and are 18 years of age or older.
The purposes of this study are to:
  • learn what types of documents and other material artifacts actually work to help patients understand their illness, make them feel supported, and help them make meaning from their medical situation;
  • determine how these documents and artifacts achieve certain effects;
  • put forward recommendations to medical practitioners, community partners, and those who interact with the ill and recovering about how best to inform and support patients; and
  • contribute to the scholarship in the Rhetoric of Health and Medicine.    
Participating in this study should not be a significant time commitment. On the next page, you will be asked to take a survey including questions about how you were supported during your illness. Your participation in this study will be completely anonymous. We have no way of determining your identity. Information obtained in the study may be published in scholarly journals or presented at academic meetings. Participants will be referenced by pseudonyms.  All collected information will be stored in a password-protected database and/or in a locked cabinet in the principal researcher’s office. There are limited risks to participating in the survey. You will be asked questions about your experience undergoing cancer treatment. These may be emotionally triggering (please note that  American Cancer Society provides a list of support programs and services at https://www.cancer.org/treatment/support-programs-and-services.html). You may skip any questions you do not wish to answer. You may also opt out of the study at any time. There are no direct benefits to you for participating. You will be contributing to our knowledgebase about oncology communication and hopefully to improving that communication. Publication resulting from this study might be beneficial to your future as an oncology patient. Your participation in this study is completely voluntary, and you have the right to withdraw at any time. You may also participate to the extent that you wish; you may answer some questions and not others. This is entirely your choice. If you wish to withdraw while completing the survey, you may do so by closing your internet browser. Once your survey is submitted, we will not be able to withdraw your data because we will not know which is yours. There is no penalty for withdrawing.
                   
Bryna Siegel Finer, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of English
Indiana University of PA, 724-357-2267, brynasf@iup.edu 
 
Cathryn Molloy, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication
James Madison University, 540-568-8018, molloycs@jmu.edu

Jamie White-Farnham, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Writing and Library Sciences
University of Wisconsin Superior, 715-394-8201, jwhitefa@uwsuper.edu

This project has been approved by the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects (Phone: 724-357-7730) – Log No. 20-084
If you agree to participate in this study, please select YES below indicating that you have read and understood this information, you consent to volunteer to be a participant in this study, you understand that your participation is completely confidential and that you have the right to withdraw at any time.  If you select NO, you will be taken to the end of the survey, and you can close this window.