Social Media Skills for Dietitians

Consent Form and Information Letter

Principal Investigator
Melissa A. Fernandez, PhD, RD
School of Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa
melissa.fernandez@uottawa.ca
613-562-5800 ext. 1216

Student Researcher
Maha Hommos (MSc Candidate)
School of Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa

Invitation to Participate
You are invited to participate in the study “Social Media Skills for Dietitians.” This project is funded by the Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research.

Purpose of the Study
To investigate the social media communication skills and training needed by Canadian dietitians to increase their visibility, reach, and public engagement on social media, with the goal of strengthening their online presence and promoting evidence-based nutrition in an era of widespread misinformation.

Participation
You will be asked to fill out a survey online about your social media Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) in professional practice. It may take up to 20 minutes to complete.

Note: This is not an anonymous survey. Your responses will be associated with your name and dietetic registration number to validate eligibility in the study. However, all identifying information will be removed before data analysis. All data will be kept private and confidential.

Risks
There are no anticipated medical or psychological risks associated with participating in this study. However, you may be asked to reflect on your professional competencies and practices, which could cause minor inconvenience. You may skip any question you do not wish to answer and may withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. To withdraw from the study,
email the research team at: digitalfood@uottawa.ca

Benefits
Your participation will contribute to a better understanding of how dietitians can be supported in using social media effectively and professionally. This research will inform future training programs and professional development initiatives in the field of dietetics.

Incentives
All individuals who complete the KAP survey will be entered into a draw to win one of five $50 electronic Amazon gift cards. Participants who choose to withdraw from study can still be entered into the draw.

Confidentiality and Privacy
The researchers guarantee that the information you share will remain strictly confidential. Your email may be used to send a single reminder email to complete the survey and to contact you if you are selected as one of the winners in the draw. Your identity will be protected during data analysis and will not be revealed in publications or presentations.

Conservation of Data
The data collected via the online survey will be kept secure on the University of Ottawa's OneDrive. Anonymized data will be retained indefinitely, and participants' personal information will be deleted sooner (one year after the data collection of the study is closed). Only the research team will have access to the original data. Anonymized data may be stored in a data repository to explore future research questions and for open data purposes.

Voluntary Participation
You are under no obligation to participate and if you choose to participate, you can withdraw from the study at any time and/or refuse to answer any questions, without suffering any negative consequences. If you choose to withdraw, all your data will be removed from the dataset and not used in the study, but you will still be entered into the draw to win a gift card. Once the list containing the identifying data is destroyed (one year after the end of data collection) participants will no longer be able to withdraw their data.

Data Quality
We strive to collect quality data to ensure the validity of responses. False data diminishes the reliability and validity of the results. For this reason, we will screen all surveys for invalid data. If fraudulent responding is identified, the research team will deem the survey responses as inadequate, withhold incentives, and exclude the data. A fraudulent survey response is one in which the participant has been screened as “likely invalid” through one of our screening questions embedded in the survey.

The ethical components of this study were approved by the University of Ottawa Research Ethics Board (H-08-25-11724). If you have any questions about the study, you may contact the research team at digitalfood@uottawa.ca

If you have any questions regarding the ethical conduct of this study, you may contact the Office of Research Ethics and Integrity via email (ethics@uottawa.ca) or telephone 613-562-5800 ext. 5387

Participants should print a copy of the consent form to keep for their personal records. Click here to download a copy of the consent form and information letter.

Question Title

* Do you consent to taking part in the study on Social Medial Skills for Dietitians?

Yes