Ganle, John Kuumuori
Apolot, Rebecca Racheal http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2460-6982
Rugoho, Tafadzwa
Sumankuuro, Joshua
Funding for this research was provided by:
Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (Iso Lomso Fellowship)
Article History
Received: 19 September 2019
Accepted: 29 September 2020
First Online: 6 October 2020
Ethics approval and consent to participate
: Ethical approval was obtained from the Ghana Health Service Ethics Review Committee (Protocol ID NO. GHS-ERC:007/07/17). Before each interview, informed consent was obtained. Research assistants first reviewed participants’ information sheet and informed consent form with each participant. Through this process, participants were informed about the rational of the study, and study procedures. The benefits and risks of participation were also explained to each participant. Participants were then asked to sign or thumbprint the informed consent form to indicate their willingness to participate in the study. Each participant received a copy of the signed/thumb-printed consent form for future reference.In addition, all interviews were conducted in venues that ensured maximum anonymity, confidentiality and privacy of all participants. Except a few visually impaired participants who were accompanied by personal assistants (usually a family member or CBSV), no third parties were present during interviews. While we initially obtained names and contact details of most participants from the GFD register, neither the names/addresses of participants nor any voice identifiers were used to identify individual participants in interview transcripts. Voice recorders, transcripts and field notes were entered into access-controlled and password protected computers, accessible only to the research team.In terms of risks and benefits, no biological samples were collected, and participants were not exposed to any physical danger. However, the time participants spent responding to interviews could have come with other indirect opportunity costs. Also, a few participants (4) felt uncomfortable when discussing some aspects of their experiences, especially in contexts where physical or sexual abuse had taken place. To addressed this, we referred all such participants for appropriate psychological counselling and support. We provided appropriate financial support to help defray any travel or service cost associated with such referrals.
: All participants gave their consent for their responses to questions asked during the data collection for this research to be published anonymously. All authors have also consented to publication of this manuscript.
: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.