Vulnerable circumstances Institution License

While the concept of vulnerability is an important underpinning of Canadian and international policies related to the protection of human research participants. The idea of vulnerability however, is an abstract concept and the application of it in real-life research contexts isn’t always clear to researchers and even to REBs.

This eModule will help research ethics professionals:

Learn that all human participants are potentially vulnerable either because of the shifting circumstances in which they find themselves in their daily lives or from the risks they may encounter when taking part in research.
Explore how the concept of vulnerability has developed in light of historical events and the key research ethics documents such as the Nuremberg Code and others that were we created in their wake.
Explore the tensions between the concepts of” vulnerable circumstances” and “vulnerable populations” and why it is valuable to struggle with that tension. Including the confrontation of exclusion, paternalism “disablism” due to well-meant intentions.
Explore how the concept of vulnerability is articulated in the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS2) and how it relates to the key principles of Respect for Persons, Welfare and in particular Justice.
Better understand the relationship between vulnerability and risk and the application of the concept of proportional review for persons with obvious and invisible vulnerabilities.
Explore issues of vulnerability in health research context and in socio-cultural, economic and political contexts
Shifting vulnerability during the lifecycle of the research: recruitment, consent, data collection, analysis, storage, and dissemination.