Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 23, 2025

Working with Human Tissues for Translational Cancer Research
Published on: November 26, 2015
From "Informed" to "Engaged" Consent: Risks and Obligations in Consent for Participation in a Health Data Repository
Elizabeth Bromley1, Alexandra Mendoza-Graf1, Sandra Berry1
1Elizabeth Bromley, M.D., Ph.D., is Associate Professor in Residence in the Departments of Psychiatry and Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Alexandra Mendoza-Graf, M.A., is an Assistant Policy Researcher at RAND and Doctoral Fellow at the Pardee RAND Graduate School in Los Angeles, CA. Her research focuses on the social determinants of health. Sandra Berry, M.A., is a senior behavioral scientist at RAND Corporation and senior director of RAND's Survey Research Group. Camille Nebeker, Ph.D., is Director of the Research Center for Optimal Digital Ethics (ReCODE.health) at UC San Diego. Her faculty appointment is with the Division of Behavioral Medicine in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at UC San Diego. Dmitry Khodyakov, Ph.D., is a Senior Behavioral/Social Scientist at the RAND Corporation. His research focuses on research ethics, partnered research, stakeholder engagement, and methods of expert elicitation.
Abstract:
The development and use of large and dynamic health data repositories designed to support research pose challenges to traditional informed consent models. We used semi-structured interviewing (n=44) to elicit diverse research stakeholders' views of a model of consent appropriate to participation in initiatives that entail collection, long-term storage, and undetermined future research use of multiple types of health data. We demonstrate that, when considering health data repositories, research stakeholders replace a concept of consent as informed with one in which consent is engaged. In engaged consent, a participant's ongoing relationship with a repository serves as a substitute or adjunct to information exchange at enrollment. We detail research stakeholders' views of the risks of engaged consent and suggest questions for further study about engagement and consent procedures in initiatives that aim to store data for future unspecified research purposes.
Related Concept Videos
Nurses' Legal Responsibilities I
The legal responsibilities of a nurse regarding informed consent include the following:
Ethics in Research
Ethical Standards I
The Code of Ethics provisions outline the nurse's duty to the patient, the healthcare team, the profession, and society. The Code's fundamental principles include advocacy,...
Ethical Standards II
Nurses are entrusted with upholding various ethical principles and standards. Nurses forge solid therapeutic relationships using trust, empathy, autonomy, confidentiality, and professional competence.
Confidentiality is crucial, embodying respect for individual privacy...
Standards of Care II
Legal Guidelines for Documentation

