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Invitation to Participate in Research Study


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Have you experienced the death of a spouse in the past five years? Are you between the ages of 18-75?

If so, researchers from the University of Illinois are interested in hearing your story. We are conducting interviews with individuals who have recently lost a spouse.

Interested participants will engage in an audio-recorded interview about their experiences with loss. Interviews will take approximately 45–90 minutes and will remain confidential. Participants who are U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or resident aliens will receive a $20 Amazon e-gift card in exchange for their involvement.

If you might be interested in participating, please contact me to learn more or to set up an interview:

Erin C. Wehrman, Doctoral Candidate
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ewehrma2@illinois.edu
Thank you!

Edited by MartyT
Age range revised per Erin Wehrman 3.27.17
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Thank you so much, Brad, for sharing your experience with all of us, and I'm so pleased to know what you thought of Erin's approach to your interview. I have emailed Erin to ask if I can change the age limit she has indicated in her invitation, above. As soon as I hear back from her, I will make that change.  

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1 hour ago, scba said:

Brad, May I ask which kind of questions they made? Was it conducted by phone? 

Ana - 

The interview initially was by Skype but then Skype is not reliable and she was having problems with screen freezes so we switched to FaceTime and then to phone.  The interview for me ran about one and a half hours but then I talk a lot.  The questions started with talking about Deedo, then her death, how I coped, what I did, those sort of things and then questions about how others treated me and how they communicated with me.  Like I said, I had many tearful moments and Erin was very kind and professional.  For me, it was a worthwhile experience.

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My timeline doesn't fit.  Maybe they think you're over it after five years.  Funny, five years, twelve years, it's all the same...he's still not here.  I hadn't even started to build my life at five years, it was just go to work, come home.

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I have to agree here with Kay. Why is the study being done only for those five years or less out?  It seems to me they should make an adjustment to that. After all, it isn't as though our pain and anguish is gone at five years. Or our memories. Seems odd they did that and not very inclusive.

My two cents.

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I probably won't take it.  Yesterday I did not take my Kindle into my granddaughters counseling session.  (I sit out front and read), but I had my GriefShare workbook.  I tried doing some of it and I find I think I must be totally trying to hide or a coward.  I open up here as much as I want to open up.  We all have opinions and some of mine are not worth sharing, for you or for me.  

 

 

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This just in from Erin:

Hi Marty,

Thank you again for all of your help. Your members have been incredibly helpful. I am currently in the process of requesting a change to my age range from the university IRB. I shouldn't have any issues with my request, but my dissertation committee would only approve my range increase to 18-75. I truly hope this does not make any of your members feel excluded--this was absolutely not the intention. If someone is right outside of the age range but wishes to participate, there are more than welcome to still contact me and I will see what I can do.  Would you mind waiting to change the posting on your website until my request is processed through the IRB office? I will happily email you as soon as I hear from the department (it should only be a few days). People are welcome to contact me in the meantime, however, and I can schedule them a few days out to make sure I have approval first.

Since I am very interested in the voices of all individuals, I am working on a second study that anyone of any age or loss could participate in. It will likely be a bit before I advertise for it since I am currently focused on the interviews, but I'm happy to share details about it when it's ready, too, if you think your members might be interested. This is definitely an area of study that we need to understand and recognize more.

Again thank you. I cannot express my gratitude enough.

My best,

Erin Wehrman

Doctoral Candidate

Department of Communication

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

4070 Lincoln Hall, Pod I, 702 S. Wright St. 

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On 16/3/2017 at 3:56 PM, Froggie4635 said:

I have an appointment for my interview for tomorrow with Erin.

 

On 14/3/2017 at 7:37 PM, Cookie said:

Getting ready to do the interview....will let you all know how it goes

Cookie, Marian. How it went?

I've sent too an email to Erin asking info about the research. 

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Maryann, how did the interview go today?

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It was a good experience.  Our conversation lasted just about 2 hours.  It was amazing how emotional I still got talking about Mark's loss.  A good bit of it was opened questions and Erin was a GREAT listener. 

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Thanks so much for letting us know, Maryann! I so appreciate our members' willingness to participate in studies like this one. It is yet another way to assist in our efforts to better understand the bereaved and learn what we can do better to support them. 

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On ‎03‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 2:58 PM, scba said:

 

 

Cookie, Marian. How it went?

I've sent too an email to Erin asking info about the research. 

Will be doing it tomorrow morning, the 21st.  Will let you all know after that.....she seems very nice, though....Cookie

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On ‎03‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 5:51 PM, Gwenivere said:

I don't think I could do this as it would open doors and I'm not sure I would make sense thru all the sobbing I envision.

I'm a little worried about that too, but feel like maybe I need some more release.  I have such a hard time dealing with just feeling all this.  I also would like to contribute in some way to an understanding of what we are all going through.  But, I don't think this is for everyone.  Good to talk to you Gwenivere.  I'll let you know how it goes.  I'm a little anxious....Cookie

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On ‎03‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 10:19 AM, Marg M said:

I probably won't take it.  Yesterday I did not take my Kindle into my granddaughters counseling session.  (I sit out front and read), but I had my GriefShare workbook.  I tried doing some of it and I find I think I must be totally trying to hide or a coward.  I open up here as much as I want to open up.  We all have opinions and some of mine are not worth sharing, for you or for me.  

 

 

I know what you mean Marg.  I am a little nervous because it seems like I put so much effort into avoiding the pain, but that is actually the reason I'm going to do this.  I can feel it in my gut all the time and it hurts all the time; thought maybe I need a release.....Cookie

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On ‎03‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 8:26 AM, kayc said:

My timeline doesn't fit.  Maybe they think you're over it after five years.  Funny, five years, twelve years, it's all the same...he's still not here.  I hadn't even started to build my life at five years, it was just go to work, come home.

Agreed.....

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5 hours ago, Cookie said:

I'm a little worried about that too, but feel like maybe I need some more release.  I have such a hard time dealing with just feeling all this.  I also would like to contribute in some way to an understanding of what we are all going through.  But, I don't think this is for everyone.  Good to talk to you Gwenivere.  I'll let you know how it goes.  I'm a little anxious....Cookie

 

I was impressed with how compassionate Erin is.  More than once she asked me if I needed a break to compose myself.  I was concerned that my tears would make her uncomfortable but she was very warm and accepting.

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