Oral Informed Consent Statement
Welcome to the “Building Resilient Communities” roundtables. My name is (state partner)
representing (state partner’s university affiliation). We are working with the Southern Rural
Development Center to help identify ways to help communities prepare for and cope with natural
disasters more effectively.
You are invited to participate in this research by joining a round table discussion group. During
these discussions, you will be given an opportunity to share your ideas about how to help your
community respond to disasters better. This discussion session will take about three hours to
complete. The responses from the discussion sessions will guide future efforts to help communities
be better prepared for disasters. We will discuss three topics:
1. How your community responded to the most recent natural disaster(s)
2. What organizations helped respond to the most recent disasters and what other organizations
might be willing to help in the future
3. How some communities are planning for disasters and whether or not you think it is a good
approach
Someone in your group will be taking notes of important ideas that are discussed, but will not be
recording who said what. No names will be recorded with what was said to protect the
confidentiality of your responses. In addition, we ask that you do not share what is said today
outside of this meeting so that everyone can feel free to speak candidly.
Your responses are important, but you may choose not to answer any question. Your participation is
completely voluntary and you may choose to discontinue your participation at any time without
penalty.
We will be discussing the community’s recent natural disasters during our time together. It may be
uncomfortable for some of you to recall those memories. If you would like to talk to a counseling
professional about your experiences with past disasters, contact information for local services are
available at the registration table.
If you have questions about this project, please feel free to contact Dr. Bo Beaulieu at the Southern
Rural Development Center at 662-325-3507. For additional information regarding your rights as a
participant, please feel free to contact the Mississippi State University Regulatory Compliance Office
at 662-325-2238.
If you would like to speak to someone from our state about this project, [add your local university
contact information here.]
FOR STATES CHOOSING TO OFFER INCENTIVES, PLEASE ADD:
As a thank you gift for your participation today, we will be giving each of you (incentive
description).
Copies of this statement are available at the registration table, if you would like to have a copy to
keep.