Gilissen, J.
Pivodic, L.
Gastmans, C.
Vander Stichele, R.
Deliens, L.
Breuer, E.
Van den Block, L.
Funding for this research was provided by:
Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Article History
Received: 28 December 2016
Accepted: 23 January 2018
First Online: 14 February 2018
Ethics approval and consent to participate
: No ethics committee approval was required. Local laws state that studies of this nature do not require ethical approval, see Belgian Law of 7 May 2004 on experiments on the human person. In Art. 3 (definitions and application) it states that only studies that have a direct intention to increase medical knowledge fall within the scope of the Law. Workshops such as those in the study do not have the direct intention to increase medical knowledge and cannot be considered as interventional research. They were expert consultations and served to gather expert opinion about elements needed to successfully implement ACP in nursing homes, rather than people’s individual opinions, beliefs or experiences. Alongside the invitation to participate, all participants received an informational letter (one page explaining aim of each workshop, including a detailed script of each workshop [see Additional file InternalRef removed]) prior to participation. They agreed to participate in writing (e-mail). The recording of the workshops was announced in the letter. After they provided their verbal consent to audio- and videotape the workshops, their consent was explicitly recorded on tape. Written consent was not necessary because no intervention was performed that could affect the physical or psychological integrity of the participants. This was approved by the Ethics Committee of University Hospital Brussels.
: Not applicable.
: Deliens L. serves as a member of the BMC Geriatrics editorial board. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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