The interviews are now complete. Case studies will be coming to this website soon.

The interviews have now been completed for our project. We include the information sheet here for anyone interested.Case studies created from this data will be published on this web page soon.

INTERVIEW INFORMATION SHEET

Information about the study

We are investigating barriers and solutions for disabled scientists working in laboratory settings. We are asking disabled scientists who have worked in labs (now or in the past) and anyone who has an interest in lab access to take part in interviews to examine access solutions in more detail. The project is funded by Cell Therapy Catapult Ltd.

The interview will take between 30 minutes to 1 hour to complete. It will be audio recorded.

Your interview will focus on the area or areas where you have access experience and expertise. We have 5 areas of access that are of interest to our study.

  1. Structural access – the physical design of laboratorys and fixed equipment in them
  2. Equipment access – e.g. accessible control panels, robots etc.
  3. Protocol access – adaptation of lab protocols e.g. evacuation protocols, when technician assistance is used etc.
  4. Dissemination access – e.g. making consultation and dissemination events accessible
  5. General working practices – e.g part time or flexible hours

This project will create a set of guidelines covering these areas. They will share current access solutions and propose principles to inform how future access solutions should be developed.

These guidelines will be used in the design of a highly accessible pharmaceutical lab laboratory used for the manufacture of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs). If you would like to see a snapshot of what such a laboratory usually looks like, please click here (LINK) for a short virtual reality tour.

Access arrangements for the interview

We would like to make sure there are no access barriers to you taking part in these virtual interviews. We will usually conduct interviews using MS Teams. However, if you prefer to use the telephone just email Dr Katherine Deane to organise this. All interviews will be conducted in English or British Sign Language. If you need a British Sign Language interpreter, please email Dr Katherine Deane in advance k.deane@uea.ac.uk.

What are you consenting to?

By giving consent to take part in this study you are telling us that you:

  • Understand what you have read.
  • Agree to take part in the research study as outlined below.
  • Agree to the use of your personal information as described.
  • You have received a copy of this Participant Information Sheet to keep. (Again we wish this to be accessible so you can download a Word (.doc) or pdf version of this information sheet. If you want a hard copy of the information sheet, please email your request to Katherine Deane k.deane@uea.ac.uk and we can provide this with standard sized text or large text.)

Being in this study is completely voluntary and you do not have to take part. Your decision whether to participate will not affect your current or future relationship with the researchers or anyone else at the University of East Anglia (or Cell Therapy Catapult Ltd) now or in the future.

You can withdraw from the study

You are free to stop the interview at any time. Unless you say that you want us to keep them, any recordings will be erased and the information you have provided will not be included in the study results. You may also refuse to answer any questions that you do not wish to answer during the interview. You will have two weeks after the interview is completed to decide to withdraw from the study. If you do withdraw your information will be removed from our records and will not be included in any results. At two weeks after the interview, we will not be able to remove the information as it will have been analysed and integrated into the final reports and guidelines.

If you find the interview upsetting

We recognise that recalling discriminatory events can be distressing. If you feel you need support for your mental wellbeing after completing the interview we highly recommend the services provided by the mental health charity MIND. Participants based outside the UK may find relevant support from this list of international mental wellbeing charities from CALM ZONE.

How we will use the interview data

The interview recording will be auto-transcribed. Key information will be extracted into lists of access barriers and solutions. Anonymised quotes about the impact of access barriers or solutions may be used in reports and guidances. Comments about barriers to access will always be anonymised, and extra care will be taken to ensure that you and your workplace cannot be identified in any way when these are reported.

However, when we identify exemplars of good access, we will ask for your explicit permission to identify you or your organisation’s access solution. You will be provided with the quotes and the information we intend to share, and you will be asked to give separate written consent to these being used in any reports or guidelines. If you do not provide consent then only information that can be anonymised will be used in the reports and guidelines.

Study data may also be deposited with a repository to allow it to be made available for scholarly and educational purposes. The data will be kept for at least 10 years beyond the date of interview. The deposited data will not include your name or any identifiable information about you.

Keeping in touch

At the end of the interview you will be asked if you wish to provide your email address in order to receive a copy of the report on this survey and the set of access guidelines. We will ask what format is most accessible for you. We hope this will be the first project in a programme of access research, so we will also ask if you are willing for us to keep your email address so we can contact you about future research projects. We will not use this for any marketing purposes and if you agree to this, we will keep your email address for 5 years only.

If you have any queries

If you have any questions please email the project lead, Dr Katherine Deane k.deane@uea.ac.uk. Dr Deane is Associate Professor in Health Research and Access Ambassador at the University of East Anglia.

Ethics approval

To protect your safety, rights, wellbeing and dignity, all research in the University of East Anglia is reviewed by a Research Ethics Body. This research was approved by the FMH S-REC (Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Research Ethics Subcommittee) - reference ETH2223-0928.

Complaints or concerns

If you have a complaint or any concerns about the study please let me know. You can contact me via the University of East Anglia at the following address:

Dr Katherine Deane
School of Health Sciences 
University of East Anglia
NORWICH NR4 7TJ
k.deane@uea.ac.uk

If you are concerned about the way this study is being conducted or you wish to make a complaint to someone independent from the study, please contact

Professor Kenda Crozier
Head of School of Health Sciences
University of East Anglia
NORWICH NR4 7TJ
k.crozier@uea.ac.uk or 01603 59 7094

Data management information

Data management will follow the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) and UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), and the University of East Anglia's Research Data Management Policy. According to data protection legislation, we are required to inform you that the legal basis for processing your data as listed in Article 6(1) of the UK GDPR is because this allows us to process personal data when it is necessary to perform our public tasks as a University.

In addition to the specific information provided above about why your personal data is required and how it will be used, there is also some general information which needs to be provided for you:

  • The data controller is the University of East Anglia.
  • For further information, you can contact the University’s Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@uea.ac.uk
  • You can also find out more about your data protection rights at the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
  • If you are unhappy with how your personal data has been used, please contact the University’s Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@uea.ac.uk in the first instance.

OK, I want to take part – what do I do next?

You need to fill in the consent form. You can do this by following the link below or by downloading a consent form, completing it, and emailing it to k.deane@uea.ac.uk. Please keep a copy of the invitation letter, information sheet and a second copy of the consent form for your information.

Further information

This information was last updated on 07 December 2022. (Version 2: 04/01/2023)

If there are changes to the information provided, you will be notified by Katherine Deane