My name is Zsuzsanna Balogh and I am conducting this research as a postgraduate student at Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom. The title of my study is “Exploring people’s experiences of the role of physical activity in bereavement in relation to mental health and wellbeing: a qualitative interview study”, I would like to invite you to take part in the research however before you decide, I would like to give you more information about it.

What is the purpose of the study?
The purpose of the study to understand people’s experiences of physical activity in the context of different points in their lives and bereavement.

Why have I been approached?
You have been asked to participate because the research requires information from people who take part in physical activities and who have experienced a significant bereavement in the past 3 years.

Do I have to take part?
It is completely up to you to decide to take part in the study. If you decide to take part, you will
be asked to sign a consent form. Participation in the study is completely voluntary. If you decide
to take part you are free to withdraw from the interviews at any point without giving any reason.
During the interviews you do not have to answer all questions or talk about anything that makes
you feel uncomfortable and you can stop the interviews at any point. After the interviews you
will have two more weeks to withdraw from the study.

What will I be asked to do if I take part?
If you decide to participate you would be asked to take part in two one-hour interviews. You will have the first interview at the beginning of the participation and you will have the second interview after three months. During the interviews you will be asked to talk about your life. During the interviews you might be asked to answer some questions about bereavement and physical activity before and since your bereavement but you are free to decline to answer any question or to discuss any topic.

You will be asked to think about your relationship with physical activity over your life time and I will make a time line with some notes to help us understand your experiences. The interviews will be arranged for a time and place that are convenient for you. The interviews will be audio recorded and physical activity log diaries will be provided for everyone who participates. You will be asked to regularly log your physical activity in the diary during the three months period and you will be also contacted monthly for brief follow-up questions about the activity log diary.

Will my data be identifiable?
The collected data will be kept confidential and securely stored on a Lancaster University approved secure cloud storage. Only the researcher will have access to it. The interviews will be anonymised, transcribed and securely stored in the cloud storage. The audio recordings will be deleted at the end of the research. We will keep your name and address separate from any data we record and link them by a code number to enable us to call you for the follow-up interview and to keep in touch about the diary in between. Once the study is finished and examined, we will delete any personally identifying information. If you decide to withdraw from the study at the start or between the first and second interview all of your data, documents and interview will be deleted immediately. Anonymised quotes from the interviews might will be used in reports or publications.

What will happen to the results?
After the analysis the results will be summarised and reported in a thesis, conference presentations and academic journal.

Are there any risks of taking part?
There are no anticipated risks of participating in the study; however, if you experience any distress following participation you are able to inform the researcher and contact the resources provided at the end of this document.

Are there any benefits of taking part?
There is no direct benefit of the participation; however, the information from the interviews will help to improve our knowledge about the relationship between physical activity and bereavement. It could also help to improve bereavement support.

Who has reviewed the project?
The research has been reviewed and approved by the Faculty of Health and Medicine Research Ethics Committee at Lancaster University.

Who do I contact to obtain further information about the study if I need it?
If you have any questions about the study and you would like to gain more information, please contact the researcher:
Zsuzsanna Balogh
Email: z.balogh@lancaster.ac.uk
Alternatively, you can contact the supervisors of the researcher:
Professor. Carol Holland
Email: c.a.holland@lancaster.ac.uk
Dr David Tod
Email: d.tod1@lancaster.ac.uk
Dr Jasper Palmier-Claus
Email: j.palmier-claus@lancaster.ac.uk

If you wish to speak to someone outside of the health research Doctorate Programme, you may also contact:
Dr Laura Machin Tel: +44 (0)1524 594973
Chair of FHM REC Email: l.machin@lancaster.ac.uk
Faculty of Health and Medicine
(Lancaster Medical School)
Lancaster University
Lancaster
LA1 4YG

Resources in the event of distress:
Samaritans:
Telephone: 116 123 or Email: jo@samaritains.org
Cruse Bereavement Support Helpline:
Telephone: 0808 808 1677

Learn more on the participant information sheet here.

If you are interested in sharing your story and you meet the criteria, please contact me on the following email address: z.balogh@lancaster.ac.uk