I misplaced the invitation letter. How do I recover my Web survey User ID code?
If you have lost or misplaced your invitation letter or your survey User ID code, please call us at 503-335-6611 or 1-866-248-0647 for assistance.
I’m having trouble getting on the web survey. How do I get help?
If you are having a problem with getting on the website please call us at 503-335-6611 or 1-866-248-0647 for assistance. Please leave a message we will get back to you within 24 hours.
I can’t finish the survey all at once. Can I complete it in a couple of sessions?
Yes, you can save your answers and take a break and come back later and finish it. Once you click “save & return later,” a return access code will appear, please write this down. You will need to keep your return code so you can get back in. When you come back, the survey will begin again on the section where you left off. If you have any questions or problems please call us at 503-335-6611 or 1-866-248-0647.
How can I get ready to fill out the survey?
It can be easier to fill out the surveys if you have records like the following, but they aren’t required:
If you don’t have records, please fill out the surveys with your best estimate.
What if I do not know an exact answer to a question?
It may be helpful to gather some information before you go onto the online survey (see list above). You could also ask someone else in your household who might know the answer. If no one knows or there is no one else in your household, please provide your best guess or estimate.
You asked how much time I spend helping my child to take medication over the last 4 months. How do I figure this out?
First, think about how much time you spend helping your child take medication on one day. For example, you might spend 5 minutes each morning preparing and making sure your child takes a prescription medicine. If you do this every day, you could multiply the 5 minutes a day by 120 days (the number of days in 4 months) to get 600 minutes. By dividing 600 minutes by 60, you would get 10 hours. Your answer would be 10 hours over the last 4 months.
You asked about how much money it cost when I took my child to the emergency room, but insurance paid for part of it. How do I figure out how much to report on the survey?
We want to know how much your family spent for the ER visit, not the part paid by insurance. For instance, you might have to pay a co-payment or deductible before your insurance covers the rest of the bill for the ER visit. You might have a $100 copayment that your family had to pay separate from any part insurance pays. This $100 would be the amount we would want you to report. If you don’t have insurance, you might have to pay the whole amount and then this would be the amount we would want you to report on the survey.
What is the r-Kids study?
r-Kids is a study that includes parents with children ages 3-17. Parents fill out 3 surveys. Once you join the study you can take the first survey right away. We will contact you about 4 months later to fill out the second survey, and we will contact you again about 4 months after that to fill out the last survey. Questions on the survey ask about the time families spend caring for their children’s health and the money they spend related to medical care and other health services to help manage their children’s health or chronic health conditions.
Who can join the r-Kids study?
The r-Kids study is inviting a wide range of parents of children ages 3-17 to join the study, including parents of children with chronic health conditions such as asthma, autism, or diabetes, and parents of children who don’t have any type of ongoing health concern.
What happens if I join?
If you join the study, you will fill out 3 surveys. You can fill out the first one right away, then about 4 months later we will ask you to fill out another survey, and about 4 months after that we will ask you to fill out the final survey.
What kinds of questions are on the survey?
We will ask about:
What if I do not know an exact answer to a question?
It may be helpful to gather some information before you begin the online survey such as a calendar, or medical payment records. You could also ask someone else in your household who might know the answer. If no one knows or there is no one else in your household to ask, please provide your best guess or estimate.
How long will it take?
The first part of the survey contains questions to see if the r-Kids study is a good fit for your family. These will take less than five minutes to complete. If r-Kids is a good fit, and you want to continue, the second part of the servey will ask more detailed questions about one specific child within the household, which should take about 40 and 60 minutes depending on your answers. The second and third surveys are shorter, about 20-40 minutes each.
Why participate?
Choosing to participate in the r-Kids study is up to you. Currently, most health care policies are made using only information on what kinds of costs health systems or insurance companies have. The r-Kids study will gather information on the kinds of costs families have. This will allow health care decision-makers to also use information about costs to families when making policies. It could help them to better understand how different policies impact families. This change could help to make better policies for you, your children, and other families. You do not have to join the study, it’s up to you. Your decision won’t affect your ability to get care from your health system or insurer. We hope you’ll choose to join! Please call us if you have more questions, at 503-335-6611 or 1-866-248-0647. We will be happy to help.
If the r-Kids study is about costs to families, why do you ask about time?
Time is a resource—just like money—and knowing how people spend their time helps answer important questions. For example:
My child doesn’t have any kind of chronic health condition. Why is my information useful?
Your information is very useful to the r-Kids study. Even when children are very healthy, parents spend time caring for their children’s health. For example, they may take them to the doctor for well-child visits or to get their eyes or ears checked. And most children get minor illnesses now and then, like the flu, and parents may have to take time off work or spend money for medication to help them get better. We also want to compare how much time and money families spend when kids are healthy and when they have serious health concerns, such as asthma or autism. There is no other information source available to answer many of the questions we are asking, so your help is very valuable.
How is my privacy protected?
The information you provide is used solely for statistical purposes. All study team members are trained in confidentiality and sign an agreement that they will protect the confidentiality of all study subjects. No identifying information is kept with your survey answers. Names and addresses are removed from all forms, and are not included in any report or publication.
Why do you need my name and telephone number?
Although your name and telephone number are not required, we would like this information in case we need to follow-up with you at a later date.
For this survey, is it safe to provide my information over the Internet?
Yes. Our study website is carefully protected and your information is encrypted at all times. Your information would be very difficult to decipher even if it was accessed by an unauthorized party. Such access would be very unlikely.