Hjetland, Gunnhild J. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3450-3186
Kolberg, Eirin
Pallesen, Ståle
Thun, Eirunn
Nordhus, Inger Hilde
Bjorvatn, Bjørn
Flo-Groeneboom, Elisabeth
Funding for this research was provided by:
Norges Forskningsråd (259987/H40)
Article History
Received: 1 July 2020
Accepted: 20 April 2021
First Online: 17 May 2021
Declarations
:
: The study was approved by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics, Health Region South East (project no. 2016/2246).The researchers endeavoured to inform all participants about the study in an adapted way. Patients who potentially had the capacity to provide informed consent were identified through conversations with the physician at each nursing home. Most patients were not able to provide consent (either orally or in writing). In these cases, the patients' legal guardians were contacted directly. After being approached by a phone call, the legal guardians received a letter by postal mail containing all relevant information about the aims, procedures, and ethical approval of the trial, after which they gave both written and oral presumed informed consent on behalf of the patient. When contemplating presumed consent, the patient’s guardian was instructed to consider what the patient would have wished for in the specific situation, not what they themselves believed was most pertinent. Across the study period, the researchers were sensitive to any expressions of discomfort or protests from the participants and considered this as withdrawal of consent. The extraction from medical records was approved by the ethics committee and Bergen Municipality, and participants were informed and consented to this data collection. The researcher extracting data from the medical records was a clinical psychologist employed by Bergen Municipality who signed an agreement of confidentiality and non-disclosure form prior to extracting data.
: Not applicable.
: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.