Research Participation
Understanding Research Participation
Thank you for your interest in participating in this research project. This page provides a brief overview of our project, commonly asked questions, and the benefits and impact of the research.
Over the last 40 years, sexual violence research has consistently shown that inpatient mental health services can be harmful, distressing, and traumatic for service users. Most of the existing research has positioned victim-survivors as respondents rather than valued contributors with unique expertise, perspectives and interests. This research project seeks to address this gap and has been designed in consultation with people with lived experience, reflecting community interests, perspectives and expertise. This survey seeks to promote victim-survivor perspectives to inform inpatient mental health services on institutional practices to prevent, minimise and respond to re-traumatisation.
This research aims to:
- To position victim-survivors as experts by experience and places them at the heart of the project.
- Elevate victim-survivor experiences, knowledge, and expertise.
- Contribute to and encourage the development of survivor-led research.
- Inform good practice and create better outcomes for victim-survivors of sexual violence accessing mental health inpatient services.
- Produce practical strategies and recommendations for mental health inpatient service for victim-survivors.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does participation involve?
Participation involves completing an anonymous online survey.
Inclusion criteria
- Lived experience of sexual violence.
Lived experience of re-traumatisation in an inpatient mental health service in Australia. (Note: Re-traumatisation is when a situation, environment, or dynamic reminds someone of a past traumatic experience, leading to a trauma response that activates emotions and reactions associated with the original trauma.)
18 and over.
Residing in Australia
Exclusion criteria
You are not eligible to participate if you are currently receiving inpatient mental health services. However, you can participate once you have been discharged from the service.
Where do I complete the survey?
Online. You can find the survey on this website.
Survey duration
Estimated 30-minutes, but this will depend on the length of your answers, and whether you take breaks between questions.
How many questions are in the survey?
The survey contains four themes with fourteen questions in total.
How do I submit my answers?
You can submit answers via text or recorded audio submissions.
Do I have to answer every question?
No. You have the option to not answer all questions, as well as pause and return to complete the survey at another time.
Is the survey anonymous?
Yes.
You will not provide any personal information.
It is recommended that you do not share personal details that could reveal your identity, such as hospital or mental health professional names. Before storing the data on RMIT servers, I will remove any personal information that could identify participants
Do I have to share my lived experiences of sexual violence and re-traumatisation to be eligible to participate?
No.
To begin the survey, you will be asked to select the box that confirms you meet the inclusion criteria. You only need to confirm your eligibility; you don’t have to provide any personal information.
Do I have to share my lived experiences when answering the survey questions?
No.
The survey will not include questions about participants’ experiences of sexual violence or re-traumatisation in inpatient mental health facilities. Nonetheless, participants have the option to share their experiences in some survey questions, but this is entirely at your discretion.
Safe Participation Plan
Use this tool to help locate your physical and emotional safety anchors to amplify your safe participation in the research study.
Here you can download a copy of the tool, as well as an example of pre-filled out plan.
