Mental Health Issue Research Sampling Considerations

DISCUSSION: SAMPLING

Discussion: Sampling

Psychiatric nursing involves care for individuals with mental health disorders. The said disorders may affect persons from various backgrounds including those from different socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, ethnicity, geography, income, gender, and age (Parekh, 2018). Therefore, researchable populations in my area of practice would be all-inclusive. In he present undertaking, however, I will largely concern myself with individuals aged above 24 years. It would be prudent to note that mental illnesses may affect individuals from any age group. However, present studies show that individuals above 24 years are more affected by mental illnesses. Parekh (2018) points out that 75% of every mental health disorder start at the age of 24.

It is important to note that adults with mental health disorders may decline or choose not to participate in mental health research. This is more so the case given that such persons could fear the negative connotations (i.e. from family and friends) linked to their participation. Mental illness is in some instances associated with stigma. For this reason, some adults may choose not to participate in research to avoid such stigma. There are also other key considerations that adults requested to participate could take into consideration. Some of the said considerations could be largely unfounded. For instance, among women, there may be fears that incase of pregnancy or conception at the time of study, the fetus may be at risk (Woodall et al., 2010). It should also be noted that some of the adults who meet the study’s eligibly standards may be unavailable owing to a number of factors, i.e. those in hospital or jail. There may also be an issue of trust owing to concerns about the confidentiality of private data provided in the course of research – more specifically, concerns on misuse of personal information (Woodall et al., 2010). Moreover, practical factors which are inclusive of, but they are not limited to; language difficulties, inconveniences owing to differences in time and place for research, and lack of financial reward could be some of the barriers to obtaining a sample.

There are various strategies that could be deployed in attempts to address the said challenges. For instance, the issue of inconveniences could be addressed by finding ideal locations and flexible time for meetings with possible participants. To avoid language difficulties, Woodall et al. (2010) suggests the recruitment of bilingual staff to ensure that all participants would access any information communicated. Distrust and stigma could be avoided by creating awareness through education and sensitization efforts what to expect following participation in the study. When it comes to confidentiality fears, there would be need to ensure that participants are aware of the measures that would be taken to secure personally attributable information. Additionally, adults participating in research could be provided with an incentive to participate in the study.

The ideal data collection approach in this case would be interviews. This has been defined, by Badu, O’Brien, and Mitchell (2019) as “a face-to-face conversation between two individuals with the sole purpose of collecting relevant information to satisfy a research purpose” (114). Thanks to this approach, I would be able to capture the relevant ques (verbal and nonverbal) and, thus, be able to adapt the queries more accurately. There are various kinds of interviews that could be embraced. In the present undertaking, semi-structured interviews would be more ideal. This is more so the case given that they would make it possible for me to explore sensitive issues in more involving formats. The research issue in this case happens to be rather personal as it touches on the emotions and feelings of participants.