Abstract
BackgroundThe conduct of research in settings affected by disasters such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes is challenging, particularly when infrastructures and resources were already limited pre-disaster. However, since post-disaster research is essential to the improvement of the humanitarian response, it is important that adequate research ethics oversight be available.MethodsWe aim to answer the following questions: 1) what do research ethics committee (REC) members who have reviewed research protocols to be conducted following disasters in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) perceive as the key ethical concerns associated with disaster research?, and 2) in what ways do REC members understand these concerns to be distinct from those arising in research conducted in non-crisis situations? This qualitative study was developed using interpretative description methodology; 15 interviews were conducted with REC members.ResultsFour key ethical issues were identified as presenting distinctive considerations for disaster research to be implemented in LMICs, and were described by participants as familiar research ethics issues that were amplified in these contexts. First, REC members viewed disaster research as having strong social value due to its potential for improving disaster response, but also as requiring a higher level of justification compared to other research settings. Second, they identified vulnerability as an overarching concern for disaster research ethics, and a feature that required careful and critical appraisal when assessing protocols. They noted that research participants’ vulnerabilities frequently change in the aftermath of a disaster and often in unpredictable ways. Third, they identified concerns related to promoting and maintaining safety, confidentiality and data security in insecure or austere environments. Lastly, though REC members endorsed the need and usefulness of community engagement, they noted that there are significant challenges in a disaster setting over and above those typically encountered in global health research to achieve meaningful community engagement.ConclusionDisaster research presents distinctive ethical considerations that require attention to ensure that participants are protected. As RECs review disaster research protocols, they should address these concerns and consider how justification, vulnerability, security and confidentially, and community engagement are shaped by the realities of conducting research in a disaster.
Highlights
The conduct of research in settings affected by disasters such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes is challenging, when infrastructures and resources were already limited pre-disaster
We undertook a qualitative study using Interpretive Description methodology [15] to investigate Research ethics committee (REC) members’ 1) views regarding ethical concerns arising in natural disaster research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and in what ways they understood these concerns to be distinctive when compared to those arising in other research settings, and 2) experiences of reviewing disaster research protocols
We identified four areas where REC members understood ethical principles to be applicable in distinctive ways for disaster research ethics review: 1) assessing the justification for conducting research; 2) addressing vulnerability when it is pervasive; 3) promoting safety, confidentiality and data security in insecure or unstable environments; and 4) gauging the possibility for meaningful community engagement
Summary
The conduct of research in settings affected by disasters such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes is challenging, when infrastructures and resources were already limited pre-disaster. Disasters result in “a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope” [1]. These events occur disproportionately in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and are especially devastating in locales where limited infrastructure and surge capacity, combined with high levels of poverty amplify the effects of natural hazards [2]. We are referring to catastrophic events (natural hazards) such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, and landslides. Doing so can help disaster researchers, as well as research ethics committees (RECs) charged with the review and oversight of disaster research, to better understand and respond to the ethical dimensions of disaster research
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