Plain Language Information Statement
Federation University - SCHOOL OF Health and Life Sciences
PROJECT TITLE: The Wellbeing of Foster Carers: The Role of Empathy, Resilience and Coping Self-Efficacy in Caring for Traumatised Children’
PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER: Dr Dixie Statham Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology DPsych (Clinical), MClinPsych, BA (Hons) OTHER/STUDENT RESEARCHERS: Emma Rodgers Bachelor of Arts: Rural Social Welfare; BPsySci; Graduate Diploma of Psychology; Masters of Psychology (Clinical) student.
Take the survey: https://federation.syd1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_beBqDvM2NEIRp0V
Dear participant,
You are invited to participate in the research project, titled ‘The Wellbeing of Foster Carers: The Role of Empathy, Resilience and Coping Self-Efficacy in Caring for Traumatised Children’. This research will be conducted by Principal Researcher, Associate Professor Dixie Statham and co-researcher, Ms Emma Rodgers of the School of Science, Psychology and Sport at Federation University Australia. Caring for our state’s most vulnerable children and young people is a challenging yet rewarding role. Foster Carers play a crucial role in providing safe and nurturing home environments to children who have often experienced extensive trauma and neglect. Whilst there is some research currently available, there are many factors regarding the wellbeing of foster carers that remains unknown. This study seeks to explore the ways in which empathy, resilience and coping abilities protect carers from developing compassion fatigue, such as burnout and vicarious trauma. Participating in this study is completely voluntary, and obligation free. We do hope that a large proportion of carers participate however, as this will help us to understand the wellbeing needs of foster carers across the state. Your participation will be completely anonymous, and you can choose to withdraw at any point prior to completing the survey. Please note however, that once you have submitted your online survey, it will be compiled into a large dataset and it will not be possible to withdraw your data due to its anonymity. In other words, we will not be able to identify you, and therefore we will not be able to retrieve your individual data once you have completed and submitted your survey responses. It will also not be possible to identify you as an individual in any publication of the results, therefore you can be assured of anonymity. The anonymous data gathered during this study will be used for research purposes, which potentially includes being presented in psychological journals. In order to support any future research in this field, this data may also be made available to other researchers for the purposes of further analysis, and may be placed in online open data sources, such as in scientific journals. By proceeding to participate in this study, you are agreeing to have read and understood this information statement and as such, your consent to participate is implied by the completion of the survey. Should you have any concerns or queries, or wish to know more about this research project, please contact the Principal Researcher using the contact details below.
Whilst we do not believe that participating in the study poses a risk to you, please ensure you complete this survey in a location where you have support available if needed. If you feel uncomfortable, unsettled or distressed in any way during or after participating, please ensure you access support services, such as Lifeline (13 11 14) and Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636), or make contact with your agency support worker, friends or family. You can also find a range of additional supports through the Foster Care Association of Victoria (https://www.fcav.org.au/carer-support-service).
This research has been approved by the Federation University Australia Human Research Ethics Committee, approval number A20-171.
To participate in this study, please click this URL link https://federation.syd1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_beBqDvM2NEIRp0V which will take you to the survey. It should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete the survey. This is a confidential survey. The software used to collect your responses does not record your identity, your email address or your Internet service provider’s address.
If you have any questions, or you would like further information regarding the project titled ‘The Wellbeing of Foster Carers: The Role of Empathy, Resilience and Coping Self-Efficacy in Caring for Traumatised Children’ please contact the Principal Researcher, Dr Dixie Statham of the School of Health and Life Sciences: EMAIL: d.statham@federation.edu.au PH: (03) 5327 6158 Should you (i.e. the participant) have any concerns about the ethical conduct of this research project, please contact the Federation University Coordinator Research Ethics, Research Services, Federation University Australia, P O Box 663 Mt Helen Vic 3353 Telephone: (03) 5327 9765 Email: research.ethics@federation.edu.au CRICOS Provider Number 00103D
