JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

People with a lived experience of a mental health condition are increasingly involved in research as partners. Yet, most human subjects protection training is designed for people who have had exposure to research.

Objective:

Explore the perspectives of peer support specialists in completing the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research ethics online training.

Methods:

Qualitative data were collected from a one-hour focus group. Qualitative analysis was informed by the grounded theory approach. The codebook consisted of codes inductively derived from qualitative data. Codes were independently assigned to text, grouped, and checked for themes. Thematic analysis was used to organize themes.

Results:

Five peer support specialists independently completed the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research ethics online training. All peer support specialists completed 15 online modules in approximately seven to nine hours. Passing scores for each module ranged from 81%-89%, with an average of 85.4% and a median of 86%. The two themes that emerged from the focus group included: (1) comprehension [barrier]; and (2) opportunity [facilitator].

Conclusions:

Peer support specialists perceived the research ethics online training as an opportunity to share their lived experience expertise to enhance current research efforts by non-peer scientists. Although, peer support specialists completed an online research ethics training, the findings indicate peers experienced difficulty with comprehension of research ethics online training materials. Adaptations may be needed for peer support specialists to facilitate uptake of research ethics online training and create a workforce of peer support specialist researchers.