Thank you for your interest in the Integrating Medical And Genetic INformation to re-Envision Depression (IMAGINED) Study!
There are four parts to the IMAGINED Study:
- Part 1 - Completing online questionnaires: You will be asked to complete a series of online surveys about your mental health, physical health, and life experiences.
- Part 2 (optional) - Providing a DNA sample: Depression is hereditary, meaning that genetic risk factors are involved. You will be asked to provide a saliva sample so that we can study your genetic information (known as your DNA) to better understand the genetic risk factors involved in depression.
- Part 3 (optional) - Providing your health card number: You will be asked to provide your provincial health card number (OHIP number) so that we can follow your healthcare service usage (like hospital admissions, or emergency department visits) over time to understand the relationship between life experiences/genetic risk factors and long-term impacts of depression. Your OHIP number will be used to link the information you provide in this study to health administrative data (which collects information about OHIP-funded healthcare services) for as long as you remain an Ontario resident.
- Part 4 (optional) - Participating in future research: You will be asked whether you are willing to be re-contacted in the future to participate in other research studies at CAMH.
On the next pages you will find information about each part of the IMAGINED study, including why it is being done, what you would be asked to do, benefits and potential risks, information about privacy and confidentiality, and who to contact with questions. This is called a consent form.
If you decide that you want to participate, you will be asked to answer questions to check your understanding of the study and what it involves. Once you correctly answer these questions, you will be directed to a link to electronically sign the consent form. You will be able to download or email a copy of the consent form to yourself if you like.
If you have questions about this study, you can talk to the IMAGINED study research team:
Phone: 416-535-8501 x30041
Email: IMAGINED@camh.ca
Note that the security of information sent by email cannot be guaranteed. Please do not communicate personal sensitive information by email.
If you have questions about your rights as a participant or about ethical issues related to this study, you can talk to the Chair of the Research Ethics Board (REB), who is not involved in the study at all. The REB is a group of people responsible for the ethical oversight of this study. The Chair of the REB can be reached by telephone at 416-535-8501 ext. 36798.