Informed Consent
It’s important that potential participants understand how their personal information will be collected, used, disclosed and retained by the BC Generations Project. This requires them to give their informed consent to the Project (a signature indicating that they fully understand and agree to how the information will be used by the Project). Participation is completely voluntary.
By giving consent, participants are permitting the BC Generations Project to collect health information (through a questionnaire), to take various body measurements, and to collect blood and urine samples during their visit to the assessment clinic. They are allowing the BC Generations Project to store their samples and health-related information, in a coded form that does not identify individuals, for use in health research projects. Participants agree that they may be re-contacted for follow-up research, and that the BC Generations Project may store and use their data until the year 2058.
Consent also allows the BC Generations Project access to past and future health and vital statistics data that is routinely collected for research and statistical purposes. This information will be provided through linkages with the Ministry of Health Services, the Vital Statistics Agency, and the BC Cancer Registry (within the BC Cancer Agency). Examples of such information would include records of physician visits, hospital admissions, cancer diagnoses, deaths, etc. This information will be linked with data and specimens from the BC Generations Project to study the causes of disease.
Read the BC Generations Project Informed Consent Form for a more comprehensive description.
Withdrawal from the Project
Even after signing an Informed Consent form, participants are free to withdraw from the BC Generations Project at any time. They do not need to give a reason for withdrawing.
There are two types of withdrawal:
- The participant withdraws consent for any future activities of the BC Generations Project. This means that the Project can no longer contact the participant and can no longer access any health information about them. However, the BC Generations Project would still be permitted to continue using data and samples that were collected before the participant withdrew from the Project.
- The participant withdraws consent for past and future activities of the BC Generations Project. This means that the Project can no longer contact the participant and can no longer access any health information about them. It also requires the BC Generations Project to destroy all of the participant’s data and samples already collected.
To withdraw, please contact the BC Generations Project:
Telephone: 604-675-8221
Toll-free: 1-877-675-8221
Email: bcgenerationsproject@bccrc.ca
The BC Generations Project
675 West 10th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Z 1L3
Withdrawals are overseen by Richard Gallagher, Principal Investigator of the BC Generations Project. Participants will receive a letter to confirm their withdrawal from the Project.
