My name is Zahra Tasha Wahid and I am currently completing my Honours year in psychology at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn.

Thankyou for your interest in this study.

Having Parkinson's Disease (PD) or caring for someone with PD can be both physically and psychologically challenging. The aim of this project is to explore the experience of both individuals with PD and the caregivers of PD patients. Specifically, this project investigates the perceptions of caregivers and individuals with PD in relation to symptom severity (e.g., what are the active symptoms of PD), illness representations (e.g.,how much impact does PD have on my life) and coping strategies (how you try to deal with having or caring for someone with PD) on health outcomes (psychological distress, quality of life). Previous research has found a link between perceptions of illness, coping strategies and the subsequent health outcomes in patients with chronic illnesses and the caregivers of such individuals. Identifying these aspects can help to improve the lives of both those diagnosed with PD and their caregivers.

Participationg is voluntary and if you wish to take part, we are asking you to complete the following questionnaire. The return of the questionnaire will be taken as informed consent. The questions are about you, your experience of Parkinson's disease as a patient or caregiver, and possible predictors of your psychological well-being and quality of life. If you are a PD patient or a caregiver ofsomeone with PD, and both of you are completing this questionnaire, you will beasked to develop a unique ID. This is so your responses can be matched. The questionnaire should take about 30 minutes to complete. Please feel free totake a short break if necessary.

All responses are strictly confidential and material received will only be viewed by the researchers and then stored securely at Swinburne University of Technology.Your response to this study is completely anonymous and confidential. The datamay be presented at conferences, in journal publications or used for class exercises but all identifying data will have been removed.

Please consider the purposes and time commitment of this study before you decide whether or not to participate. This study conforms to the principles set out in the Swinburne University of Technology Policy on Research Ethics and the NHMRC guidelines as specified in the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007).This project has been approved by or on behalf of Swinburne's Human Research Ethics Committee (SUHREC).

Through the agreed support of Parkinson's Victoria, your name and contact details have been provided to us as part of a potential pool of participants.Please be assured that the researchers will not disclose this information to unauthorised parties, and it will solely be used for the purposes of a project mailing list.

Should you have any queries about this study or would like to know the results, please contact my supervisor Dr. Simon Knowles on (03) 9214 8206 or via sknowles@swin.edu.au

It is not expected that this study will cause any negative effect, however if completion of this questionnaire leads to feelings of distress or raises issues you would like to discuss with a counsellor, please contact: Swinburne Psychology Clinic(low-cost counselling) on (03) 9214 8653 or Lifeline on 13 11 14. 

If you have any concerns or complaints about the conduct of this project, you can contact the Research Ethics Officer, Office of Research and Graduate Studies (H68), Swinburne University of Technology, P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC, 3122, or telephone (03) 9214 5218 or email resethics@swin.edu.au. If you are calling from outside Australia, please dial +0061 before dialling any of the above phone numbers.

We thank you for your time and interest in this study,

Zahra Tasha Wahid

Dr. Simon Knowles

Professor Sue Moore