What Are Your Priorities?

Note: This survey is now closed.

Please answer a few questions at the link below to share your health care priorities with us and help us to address the issues that are most important to you and your community.

Find our short, anonymous survey here!

An Investigation of Rural Citizen-Patient Priorities for Health Planning
Why are we doing the study?

We are interested in working with rural citizens to provide high quality, useful evidence for rural health services planning in British Columbia. To do this we will: (1) ask rural citizens to identify the health care priorities that matter the most to them and their communities, (2) analyze what we hear, and (3) present what we learn to policy-makers and health administrators in the province. 

Who is conducting the study?
We are a team of researchers from the Centre for Rural Health Research, within the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia.

Principal Investigator: 
Jude Kornelsen, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia (UBC)
Co-Director, Centre for Rural Health Research
E: jude.kornelsen@familymed.ubc.ca
T: (250) 653-4325

Research Coordinator:
Christine Carthew, MPH
Centre for Rural Health Research, Department of Family Practice, UBC
E: christine.carthew@ubc.ca
T: (604) 827-2193

What happens if you say: “Yes, I want to participate”?
We are using the survey to reach the residents of rural and remote communities across B.C. to learn about their communities’ priorities for health care. 

The survey is voluntary, anonymous and brief (it takes 10 minutes or less to complete!). 

By completing the survey, you are giving your consent to participate in the research study.
That is, you are agreeing to let the research team use your answers to help to identify the topics that we research and that we try to improve.
You can stop at any time before you submit your survey.
However, because the survey is anonymous, you will not be able to withdraw your participation from the study once you have submitted the questionnaire. 

The research team will also be conducting telephone interviews to learn about the health care issues that are most important to rural citizens and communities in B.C. If you would like to participate in a follow-up research interview to talk more about this topic, please contact the Research Coordinator (Christine Carthew) directly at the email listed above. 

How will the results of the study be shared?
The study’s findings will be shared in the form of plain language summaries to participating communities and posted to our website (https://crhr.med.ubc.ca/). We will also write academic publications and a policy brief to the Health Authorities and the B.C. Ministry of Health, and give conference presentations. 

The academic publications will be shared through open access journals, which means that the findings will be made publically available. In addition, given the public nature of the Centre for Rural Health Research’s website, the plain language summaries will be accessible by members of the public. That said, any information that can identify you will be excluded from all reports and publications about the study.

If you would like to receive information about the results of the study directly, please let our team know by contacting the Research Coordinator (Christine Carthew) at the email listed above.

What are the benefits of participating?
The survey provides you with the opportunity to reflect on and to share your concerns and priorities for health care in British Columbia with the research team.
The findings will be used to help our team to identify the topics that we research and that we bring forward to policy-makers and health administrators to improve.

 Is there any way that being in the study could be bad for you?
There are no known risks for you to participate in this study. We will ask you about the most important health care needs and priorities in your community. Your answers to the survey questions will remain anonymous. You can choose not to answer any of the questions. 

Who can you contact if you have questions about the study?
If you have any questions or concerns about the research study or the consent process, please contact the study’s Principal Investigator or the Project Coordinator. Their names and contact information are listed at the top of this page. 

Who can you contact if you have complaints or concerns about the study?
If you have any concerns or complaints about your rights as a research participant and/ or your experience of participating in this study, please contact the Research Participant Complaint Line within the UBC Office of Research Ethics, at (604) 822-8598.
Or if long distance, please email RSIL@ors.ubc.ca or call toll free
1 (877) 822-8598.