Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1942/34070
Title: Participant Experiences in a Human Biomonitoring Study: Follow-Up Interviews with Participants of the Flemish Environment and Health Study
Authors: Morrens, Bert
Jonker, Hans
Den Hond, Elly
Coertjens, Dries
Colles, Ann
Van Larebeke, Nicolas
NAWROT, Tim 
Covaci, Adrian
Nelen, Vera
Vandermoere, Frederic
Loots, Ilse
Schoeters, Greet
Issue Date: 2021
Publisher: MDPI
Source: Toxics, 9 (4) , (Art N° 69)
Abstract: 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.
Notes: Morrens, B (corresponding author), Univ Antwerp, Fac Social Sci, B-2000 Antwerp, Belgium.
bert.morrens@uantwerpen.be; hans.jonker@uantwerpen.be;
elly.denhond@provincieantwerpen.be; dries.coertjens@uantwerpen.be;
ann.colles@vito.be; greet.schoeters@vito.be;
nicolas.vanlarebeke@ugent.be; tim.nawrot@uhasselt.be;
adrian.covaci@uantwerpen.be; vera.nelen@provincieantwerpen.be;
frederic.vandermoere@uantwerpen.be; ilse.loots@uantwerpen.be
Other: Morrens, B (corresponding author), Univ Antwerp, Fac Social Sci, B-2000 Antwerp, Belgium. bert.morrens@uantwerpen.be; hans.jonker@uantwerpen.be; elly.denhond@provincieantwerpen.be; dries.coertjens@uantwerpen.be; ann.colles@vito.be; greet.schoeters@vito.be; nicolas.vanlarebeke@ugent.be; tim.nawrot@uhasselt.be; adrian.covaci@uantwerpen.be; vera.nelen@provincieantwerpen.be; frederic.vandermoere@uantwerpen.be; ilse.loots@uantwerpen.be
Keywords: human biomonitoring;risk communication;research participation;environmental health;report-back;participant experiences
Document URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1942/34070
e-ISSN: 2305-6304
DOI: 10.3390/toxics9040069
ISI #: WOS:000643672200001
Rights: 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).
Category: A1
Type: Journal Contribution
Validations: ecoom 2022
Appears in Collections:Research publications

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
toxics-09-00069-v2.pdfPublished version291.62 kBAdobe PDFView/Open
Show full item record

Google ScholarTM

Check

Altmetric


Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.