Participant Experiences in a Human Biomonitoring Study: Follow-Up Interviews with Participants of the Flemish Environment and Health Study
Communicating individual human biomonitoring results to study participants has been the subject of debate for some time. This debate is dominated by ethical considerations from a researchers’ perspective on whether or not to communicate, thereby overlooking more practice-based questions from a parti...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Toxics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/9/4/69 |
| _version_ | 1797539783676788736 |
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| author | Bert Morrens Hans Jonker Elly Den Hond Dries Coertjens Ann Colles Greet Schoeters Nicolas Van Larebeke Tim Nawrot Adrian Covaci Vera Nelen Frédéric Vandermoere Ilse Loots |
| author_facet | Bert Morrens Hans Jonker Elly Den Hond Dries Coertjens Ann Colles Greet Schoeters Nicolas Van Larebeke Tim Nawrot Adrian Covaci Vera Nelen Frédéric Vandermoere Ilse Loots |
| author_sort | Bert Morrens |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Communicating individual human biomonitoring results to study participants has been the subject of debate for some time. This debate is dominated by ethical considerations from a researchers’ perspective on whether or not to communicate, thereby overlooking more practice-based questions from a participants’ perspective on what and how to communicate. We conducted a small scale follow-up study based on eleven face-to-face interviews with mothers participating in the third cycle of the Flemish Environment and Health Study (FLEHS III 2012–2015) to investigate how they experienced and interpreted individual biomonitoring results. Key findings indicate that respondents were generally satisfied with participating in the biomonitoring study, but the report-back process especially lacked contextualized information and interactive communication options to better comprehend and cope with personal results. These findings also argue in favor of a more tailored approach in which report-back methods, formats and content are diversified according to the type of results and the preferences of participants. A reflexive research practice with active engagement in follow-up research is crucial to improve participants’ understanding and use of personal biomonitoring results. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:50:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e1be03d2ce4a4f28ba5cdcb41c8511d7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2305-6304 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:50:47Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Toxics |
| spelling | doaj.art-e1be03d2ce4a4f28ba5cdcb41c8511d72023-11-21T13:07:48ZengMDPI AGToxics2305-63042021-03-01946910.3390/toxics9040069Participant Experiences in a Human Biomonitoring Study: Follow-Up Interviews with Participants of the Flemish Environment and Health StudyBert Morrens0Hans Jonker1Elly Den Hond2Dries Coertjens3Ann Colles4Greet Schoeters5Nicolas Van Larebeke6Tim Nawrot7Adrian Covaci8Vera Nelen9Frédéric Vandermoere10Ilse Loots11Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, BelgiumFaculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, BelgiumDepartment of Health, Provincial Institute of Hygiene, 2000 Antwerp, BelgiumFaculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, BelgiumHealth Unit, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), 2400 Mol, BelgiumHealth Unit, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), 2400 Mol, BelgiumDepartment of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, University Ghent, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumCenter for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, 3500 Hasselt, BelgiumToxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, 2610 Wilrijk-Antwerp, BelgiumDepartment of Health, Provincial Institute of Hygiene, 2000 Antwerp, BelgiumFaculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, BelgiumFaculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, BelgiumCommunicating individual human biomonitoring results to study participants has been the subject of debate for some time. This debate is dominated by ethical considerations from a researchers’ perspective on whether or not to communicate, thereby overlooking more practice-based questions from a participants’ perspective on what and how to communicate. We conducted a small scale follow-up study based on eleven face-to-face interviews with mothers participating in the third cycle of the Flemish Environment and Health Study (FLEHS III 2012–2015) to investigate how they experienced and interpreted individual biomonitoring results. Key findings indicate that respondents were generally satisfied with participating in the biomonitoring study, but the report-back process especially lacked contextualized information and interactive communication options to better comprehend and cope with personal results. These findings also argue in favor of a more tailored approach in which report-back methods, formats and content are diversified according to the type of results and the preferences of participants. A reflexive research practice with active engagement in follow-up research is crucial to improve participants’ understanding and use of personal biomonitoring results.https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/9/4/69human biomonitoringrisk communicationresearch participationenvironmental healthreport-backparticipant experiences |
| spellingShingle | Bert Morrens Hans Jonker Elly Den Hond Dries Coertjens Ann Colles Greet Schoeters Nicolas Van Larebeke Tim Nawrot Adrian Covaci Vera Nelen Frédéric Vandermoere Ilse Loots Participant Experiences in a Human Biomonitoring Study: Follow-Up Interviews with Participants of the Flemish Environment and Health Study Toxics human biomonitoring risk communication research participation environmental health report-back participant experiences |
| title | Participant Experiences in a Human Biomonitoring Study: Follow-Up Interviews with Participants of the Flemish Environment and Health Study |
| title_full | Participant Experiences in a Human Biomonitoring Study: Follow-Up Interviews with Participants of the Flemish Environment and Health Study |
| title_fullStr | Participant Experiences in a Human Biomonitoring Study: Follow-Up Interviews with Participants of the Flemish Environment and Health Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Participant Experiences in a Human Biomonitoring Study: Follow-Up Interviews with Participants of the Flemish Environment and Health Study |
| title_short | Participant Experiences in a Human Biomonitoring Study: Follow-Up Interviews with Participants of the Flemish Environment and Health Study |
| title_sort | participant experiences in a human biomonitoring study follow up interviews with participants of the flemish environment and health study |
| topic | human biomonitoring risk communication research participation environmental health report-back participant experiences |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/9/4/69 |
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