Survey to Determine Incarcerated Persons' Views on Surrogate Decision Making

Background

About 180,000 of the people in US prisons are over 55 years old. Aging people often cannot make medical decisions on their own. People who cannot make their own decisions must rely on a "surrogate." A surrogate is someone who helps the person's doctor make decisions for them. Researchers want to conduct a survey to ask people in prison who they would like to be their surrogates. But first, they need to find out if their survey questions are clear and easy to understand.

Objective

To get imprisoned people's feedback on survey questions about surrogate decision making.

Eligibility

People currently imprisoned in a US facility with access to Edovo. They must be able to read and write in English.

Design

Participants will answer 26 survey questions. The questions will be on the Edovo Learn software platform. After each question, they will be asked: "Was this question clear? If not, please explain in the box below what you found unclear. Also, if you have any suggestions for how we might make the question clearer, please include them."

Participants will be asked to imagine themselves in a situation where they cannot make their own medical decisions. They may skip questions or stop the survey if they want. No information that identifies them will be collected.

The survey will take about 15 minutes.