Informed consent in school health research: Why, how, and making it easy

The obligation to obtain informed consent for student participation in heal th-related research creates a complex set of legal, ethical, and administra tive responsibilities because the interests of research integrity are delic ately balanced against protection of human subjects. Even the term itself s parks a range of responses responses depending on one's perspective and sta ke in the process. This paper traces the historical impetus behind obtainin g informed consent, identifies key elements comprising informed consent, an d reviews types of consent consent procedures used in schools. The authors suggest 20 ways to boost response rates while providing a realistic level o f informed informed consent for school-based studies.