Volunteer for a research study

Study title:

The effect of simulating functional tasks during an immersive virtual reality environment on pain and fear of movement in people with chronic non-specific low back pain

Aims:

• The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of pain education and virtual reality gameplay on pain levels and fear of movement in individuals with persistent low back pain.
• The study is also exploring the impacts of these interventions on movement and physical activity levels.
• While pain education is a well-established treatment intervention, virtual reality gameplay is an emerging treatment and requires more investigation.
• If virtual reality gameplay combined with pain education is shown to be an effective treatment for pain and fear of movement in individuals with persistent low back pain, this could provide opportunities for alternative treatment approaches that incorporate virtual reality gameplay. This could take place in individual’s homes without the need for regular face to face contact with a physiotherapist.

Types of volunteers needed:

• Adults (18-65 years of age)
• Have persistent low back pain (six months or more)
• Able to attend the Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Services (STARS) Hospital for three weekly sessions

What is involved?

• If you decide to participate in the study, participation will include attending three weekly sessions at STARS. The first two sessions take approximately 60-90 minutes, and the final session takes approximately 30 minutes.
• Parking vouchers are available to cover parking costs at STARS, or alternatively you can elect to be reimbursed for public transport costs.
• Participation involves completing some questionnaires relating to pain intensity, your beliefs around pain and movement, and a measure of the level of your disability resulting from your back pain.
• At each testing session, markers will be placed on your trunk to enable motion capture as you perform some standard movements (e.g. bending forwards, backwards, sideways, lifting and lowering a 4kg box).
• The first session will also include a 1:1 pain education intervention, while the second session will include virtual reality gameplay where you will play three separate games (basketball hoops, ice curling, and ten-pin bowling).

What’s in it for me?

• There will be no direct benefit to you from participating in this research. However, your participation will help to determine if virtual reality combined with pain education has a positive impact on pain, fear of movement, physical activity levels, and movement of the lower back, in individuals with persistent low back pain.
• A $40 gift card will be provided to participants who complete all three sessions, to thank you for your time.

How can I volunteer or find out more?

People interested in participating or learning more about the study including location details can:

• Contact Dr Peter Window, Project Investigator, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital on email peter.window@health.qld.gov.au; or
• Read the Study information sheet provided here (PDF, 191.6 KB)

What is this research about?

In this study, we aim to obtain users’ opinions and experiences about using a chatbot to receive whiplash-related health information. 

Eligibility?

Please participate in our study if you are:

• An adult, 18 years old or over
• Have a whiplash-associated disorder (> 1 month since injury without a pending insurance claim)
• Comfortable to participate in a group discussion, and
• Have a computer and some computer skills to attend an online group discussion using a videoconferencing platform (Zoom). 

What will be involved?

• Test a chatbot using a personal mobile phone or computer at your own home (about 30 minutes)
• Complete an online survey at home (15 minutes), and
• Participate in a focus group discussion using a videoconferencing platform (Zoom, about 30 minutes). 

You can read more details about the study in the participant information sheet.

What's in it for me?

There will be no direct benefit to you from participating in this study. The information collected here is essential for designing and developing chatbot-based interventions in the research field. The research outcome here will support our future studies for improving the self-management of whiplash in healthcare.

We will provide you with a $30 gift card to thank you for contributing your valuable knowledge, experience and time to our research. 

How do I register to participate?

Please register to parcipate in the study using the registration form.

If you have any questions or are interested in learning more about the study, please contact Dr. Hang Ding, Research Fellow through our RECOVER Injury Research Centre email address recover@uq.edu.au.

We are developing an interactive chatbot (software program with emulated human conversations) to answer users’ questions and provide educational materials to people with a whiplash injury. In this study, we aim at evaluating a chatbot’s information quality, safety, and user experience from the perspective of experienced clinicians.

What will you do?

You will install a social media app (Telegram or Facebook Messenger) on a personal smartphone, tablet or computer at home (5 minutes) to access our chatbot. You will then test the chatbot (over 30 minutes) using three tasks that we will provide and some questions/topics (at least three) you are often asked by your patients with whiplash. We will give you two weeks to finish the test. Finally, you will complete an online survey for evaluating the functionality, user experience and information quality (15 minutes).

Who can participate?

Please participate in our research study, if you are:

• A current clinician such as a physiotherapist,
• With experience in managing at least 5 whiplash patients per year, and  
• Being comfortable using social media apps such as Facebook Messenger and Telegram.

Why and how do I participate?

There are no direct benefits to yourself. Your valuable experience and ideas are essential for us to develop technology applications for improving whiplash care in the community. We will provide you with a $30 gift card to thank you for your participation.

To discuss the details, please contact Dr Hang Ding, Research Fellow, at the Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Hospital (STARS), Herston, Brisbane, QLD through our RECOVER email address.

Study title:

Aim:

There is an urgent need to develop and evaluate new approaches that reduce driving anxiety and avoidance. In this study, we will invite patients to share their journey and experiences of driving anxiety and avoidance. It provides an opportunity for patients and clinicians to work together to develop the best possible solutions to improve care. It is expected that the results of this research will be used to develop a VR prototype which can be evaluated in future studies to assist individuals to improve their health and reduce driving anxiety.

Types of volunteers needed:

To be eligible to participate in this study, you must be 18 years or older and must have chronic pain (experienced for more than 3 months) which has been diagnosed by a medical professional and a result of a motor vehicle crash. You must also have driving anxiety or avoidance or have experienced this in the past.

What is involved?

If eligible, you will complete a short 10-minute online survey which includes questions about demographics, your condition, and associated clinical characteristics (e.g., mood). You will then be invited to complete one or more (up to four) focus groups or individual sessions to explore your experience of pain, driving anxiety and provide input into the intervention components.

What’s in it for me?

You may or may not personally benefit from participating in this study. However, we hope that you will find your participation and contribution to the study valuable. The findings of the study will help us develop more effective approaches to reducing driving anxiety. A summary of the findings of this study will be prepared once the information collected has been completed. You can request to receive a copy of the findings of the study by contacting Dr Elphinston via email (rachelel@uq.edu.au).

You will receive a $50 gift card for participating in each session. A $50 gift card will be sent to you by mail/email after completion of each session.

How can I volunteer or find out more?

Contact Dr Elphinston via email rachelel@uq.edu.au