Educational Advantage

Abstract

This issue of JERHRE examines informed consent requirements as they arise in diverse countries and cultures, and in relation to level of risk of the research and vulnerability of the potential participants. It also examines issues of literacy as they affect informed consent. And it examines whether research participants want to be informed. Adequate informed consent is a statement that is meaningful and understandable by the particular research participant and that allows the participant free choice regarding participation. The way in which an adequate consent procedure is administered must, by definition, depend on the level of literacy of the potential research participants, and the nature and values of the culture of the potential participants. An implication of these requirements is that Western consent procedures are likely to violate ethical standards when employed in non-Western cultures. Educational activities presented below will enable readers to consolidate their knowledge and understanding of these issues. Written informed consent statements are not valid for use with research participants who lack literacy. The level of literacy required depends on the complexity of the research topic. In Clough et al., we find that cultural differences in self-concept, understanding of research methods, level of education, and deference to researchers challenge researchers to modify standard consent procedures to render them valid in some cultural contexts. In Abou Zeina et al., we find an even more complex problem of communicating patients' rights to illiterate patients in an Egyptian public hospital: not only can they not read, but they consider "patients' rights" as the least of their problems. In Iverson et al., we find still different issues concerning the scientific literacy of surrogate decision makers for critically ill patients. And in Ghandour et al., we find in Lebanon, within a very large sample of socioeconomically diverse students, a virtually total lack of interest in being informed before participating in a survey on a highly sensitive topic. For those of us who would unthinkingly impose standard Western consent procedures on everyone, these four articles may have much to teach us.