[Isl] Human Subjects Research with Adults Age 65+

[Neil Charness]

Hi Folks:

You may have seen apparently "dueling" announcements by the IRB and the Office of Sponsored Research concerning the possibility of resuming in-person testing of older adults.  I refer you to the authoritative web pages for exact wording:

https://www.research.fsu.edu/research-offices/ohsp/covid-19-and-human-research-studies/

Basically, there are EXCEPTIONS now for testing those age 65+ in person, that state that all people involved in the research encounter must be fully vaccinated, namely all testers and testees.

However, we are not permitted to directly ask or require someone to show us proof of vaccination per Florida's Governor's executive order.

So, how might we negotiate a "don't ask, can tell" policy?

Dr. Howard Stone, who leads our IRB, suggested we could communicate with people in our labs (and potential older participants) as follows:

"In order to protect against COVID-19 or Coronavirus, if you come to the lab we are required to follow certain precautions like social distancing and use of masks. However, we don't have to do this for persons who have completed a full COVID-19 vaccination. You may if you'd like share with us information about your COVID-19 vaccination, but this is your decision and is not required. You can still come to the lab and we will follow our usual COVID-19 precautions."

Best, Neil

Neil Charness, Ph.D., William G. Chase Professor of Psychology
FSU Distinguished Research Professor
Director, Institute for Successful Longevity www.isl.fsu.edu<http:// www.isl.fsu.edu>
Department of Psychology, Florida State University
1107 West Call Street, Tallahassee, Florida, USA 32306-4301
Phone (office): 850-644-6686; Fax: 850-644-7739
E-mail: charness at psy.fsu.edu<mailto:charness at psy.fsu.edu>; http://www.psy.fsu.edu/~charness/
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