Focus Groups

Focus Group Participation

The Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science (CSMLS) would like to invite you to participate in a focus group examining any impact cannabis legalization in Canada has had or is expected to have on your work environment, coworkers and patients from the perspective of medical laboratory professionals.

Purpose: Legalization of cannabis in Canada has the potential to greatly impact the work conducted by medical laboratory professionals (MLPs). Cannabis consumption and human testing trends have been predicted to increase, however, the amount and for how long the increase may last is not easily predicted. As well, organization have been preparing for legalization through enhanced policies and procedure for staff and on behalf of patients. Canada is only the second nation in the world to legalize cannabis across its land. As such, there is almost no literature describing the medical laboratory experience during such a landmark change.

The purpose of this study is to better understand any clinical laboratory workplace changes and expected future change as experienced by MLPs due to the legalization of cannabis in Canada. The study will conduct semi-structure focus groups with MLPs to achieve this.

CSMLS is also conducting interviews with managers and executive on the study topic. If you are in such a role, you may participate in an interview instead of a focus group. A separate interview Information Letter has been created to provide further details.

Focus Group Eligibility Criteria:
  • You have an active CSMLS membership (practicing professional) in a non-management role.
  • You are working within the Canadian laboratory environment.
  • You are 19 years of age or older.
Time: The semi-structured focus group will take approximately 1 hour of active participation to complete. During the teleconference, you will be asked questions related to:
  • provide your perception of recreational and medicinal cannabis use as it relates to employment and patient interaction,
  • to discuss any current and expected change in testing volume, procedures and protocols related to cannabis since legalization, and
  • identify barriers and facilitators associated with the adaption of required policy changes (lab testing and patient sample acquisition).
Confidentiality: You will be participating in this study confidentially, within the limits of Canadian law. You will not be asked to provide information that identifies who you are or your place of work during the focus group. Should you question whether the information you are providing will result in identification, do not provide this information at all. Your responses should only discuss situations or outcomes in general terms. The focus groups will be recorded and transcribed, and the study investigators may make handwritten notes.

If you unintentionally provide identifying information, the Principal Investigator will irreversibly remove this from the data prior to analysis. The resulting dataset will be aggregated and the analysis disseminated in a publicly available summary report.

Benefits: Although you may not personally benefit from participation, other than having your opinion heard, your responses will provide valuable information. It is anticipated that the study results will benefit MLPs across Canada in the future medical laboratory stakeholders can use the information to support projects that increase legalization information awareness and impacts of legalization. A study report will be added to the CSMLS website for dissemination to members and the public. 

There will not be an incentive or remuneration provided for participating in the focus group.

Risks: As the focus groups will not collect personal identifiers and do not require discussion of a highly sensitive topic, there is minimal risk in participation. Personally identifying information is only reviewed during the registration process to ensure participation eligibility. It will not be connected to any of the data collected during the focus groups.

It is possible that you may feel some psychological discomfort during the focus group discussions if you have experienced negative emotional or psychological effects due to cannabis legalization. Should this occur, all participants have the right to answer or not answer any question(s) and the ability to exit the focus group at any time by hanging up. Should you continue to feel discomfort after participating in the forum, please contact your local health care services for support.

As you will not be identifiable in the focus group results, the investigators cannot remove any information you provide after you have exited the teleconference.

Contact: If you have any questions or concerns regarding this study please contact the study investigator, Laura Zychla (research@csmls.org).

Consent: By volunteering to participate in this focus group, it is assumed you fully understand the project and consent to participate. While your identity will remain confidential throughout the data collected in this project, it is assumed you consent to the use of your responses in this project. 

To register for a focus group, log into your CSMLS account. Then click on the registration button. You may also contact research@csmls.org to register.
   Sincerely,
Christine Nielsen, Chief Executive Officer
Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science
33 Wellington St. North, Hamilton
ON, L8R 1M7

Indigenous Land Acknowledgement : We respectfully acknowledge the CSMLS office, located in Hamilton, Ontario, is situated upon the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Mississauga Nation, Anishinaabe Peoples, and the Neutral Peoples. This land is covered by the Dish With One Spoon wampum, which is a treaty between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe to share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. We further acknowledge that this land is covered by the Between the Lakes Treaty No. 3, 1792, between the Crown and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

 

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