Frequently Asked Questions

To be eligible to participate in the study, you need to be 12 years or over and struggle with food, weight or shape. If you agree to participate in the study, you will be asked to complete a set of screening questionnaires to ensure the SkillED program is safe for you to join.

SkillED is structured into 11 weekly online learning modules organised into various topics, such as psycho-education about eating disorder symptoms, self-monitoring skills, practical skills for management of emotions and nutrition.

All participants are required to complete modules 1 – 5 in order. Once you have completed the first module, the next one will be unlocked.

Then participants can either complete the remaining 6 modules in order (regarded as 'Group 1') or complete in any order (includes skipping or repeating modules, regarded as 'Group 2').

For the evaluation, we will ask that you complete questionnaires throughout and after completion of the program. At the end of the program, you will also be invited to join an optional interview to share your feedback on your experiences.

We do not foresee any risks or costs associated with taking part in this study.

A standard GP medical examination is required. If you feel any emotional distress at any point during the program, your nominated GP will provide support and monitor risk as frequently as clinically indicated.

If at any time you feel distressed, you can also call the Butterfly Foundation on 1800 33 4673, Lifeline on 13 11 14 for crisis support or by contacting your regular healthcare professional (GP, Psychologist, Psychiatrist).

If you feel distressed, please contact the research assistant, clinical investigator or let the practice staff know and they will get your treating clinician to support.

We cannot guarantee that you will receive any direct benefits from being in the study, however, we hope you will gain benefits from SkillED. We hope this study will confirm the effectiveness of the SkillED online program and provide directions for ongoing development and improvement of the final program content and delivery.

Participants who have completed and returned their follow-up questionnaires will go in the draw to win one of 10 visa gift cards valued at $100 each. Each participant will be assigned with a participant code number. The lucky draw will be conducted using the “Wheel of Names” online platform for a random pick number assigned to each participant. A total of 10 spins will be conducted. The selected number will be removed from the subsequent spin for a fair distribution chance to all participants. Participants will be eligible for the lucky draw if they complete and return all questionnaires at both baseline and follow-up.

Participants will still be eligible for the lucky draw prize even if they dropout during the study but return to complete the follow up assessment.

Participating in this study will not cost you anything, nor will you be paid.

Participation in this study is entirely voluntary. Your responses, or your decision not to participate, will not impact your current or future relationship with the researchers or anyone else from the InsideOut Institute, NSW Health or the University of Sydney, or your access to the SkillED Program at the conclusion of the study. You can decline consent and you will be given the option to sign up for notifications on the public release of the program.

If you decide to take part in the study and then change your mind later, you are free to withdraw your baseline, module and post-course questionnaire data anytime within the three-month course access period. You can withdraw your three-month follow up questionnaire data up until the point of submitting the responses. If you do take part in the follow-up interview, you can contact us any time up until one month after completing the interview and your data will be withdrawn. After this period, all data will be locked for analysis.

All the information collected from you for the study will be treated confidentially, only the investigators named above will have access to it. The data will be analysed by the investigators at InsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders. All data for use in reports, journal publications and presentations will be de-identified (meaning that you/your information will not be identifiable). The deidentified data collected will be stored for 15 years in a secure network data management system compliant with the University of Sydney Research Data Management Policy and then all files will be permanently destroyed in accordance with University’s policy.

To ensure appropriate management of your safety, the GP may contact the research staff or be contacted by the research staff and/or sent reports of your questionnaire scores if there are any concerns regarding your safety. Note that we will always endeavour to speak with you first if we are concerned about your safety.

The University of Sydney software licence for REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) will be used to manage the collection and storage of research data. REDCap is a secure, web-based, non-commercial, data management tool designed for research purposes. Data collected by REDCap is stored on servers in the University of Sydney data centre. Data is secured, and privacy and confidentiality of your data is maintained at all times.

It is anticipated that the results of this research study will be published in academic journals and policy documents and be presented at local and international scientific conferences. Results will also be communicated to the wider community through public talks, social media networks and print media as well as via the InsideOut website. In any publication and/or presentation, information will be provided in such a way that you cannot be identified as we will not use any of your personal information as part of this research study. Participants will not be given their individual results but will be sent a copy of all academic publications pertaining to this study.

This study is being conducted within this institution by Prof Sarah Maguire, Director at InsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders. If you would like to know more, or have any questions, please contact SkillED Research Team on 02 8627 5690 or by email at skilledstudy@sydney.edu.au. You can also ask your relatives to talk to us.

All research in Australia involving humans is reviewed by an independent group of people called a Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). This study has been approved by the Ethics Review Committee (RPAH zone) of the Sydney Local Health District.

Any person with concerns or complaints about the conduct of this study should contact the Executive Officer of the Ethics Committee on (02) 9515 6766 or SLHD-RPAHEthics@health.nsw.gov.au and quote protocol number [X22-0396].