I am Beth Rodgers, a Registered Nurse and researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, College of Nursing.  I also happen to be someone who lives with OSA and CPAP therapy. I have been an active participant on this forum in the past where I found the support I needed to come to terms with my own OSA and deal with it to the best of my abilities.  Now, I want to use my skills and knowledge to help others.

Although there is a great deal of research available regarding various therapies, there is little information that captures the experiences of the people actually living with OSA.  I want to use my abilities as a nurse and as a researcher to fill this gap through a study of the experiences of people who are at various stages of living with OSA.  Gathering stories from people about their experiences with OSA and its treatment will help us inform health professionals in an effort to improve the care given to people with OSA.  Also, this information may help individuals who think they might have OSA but have not received the diagnosis yet.
 
Information regarding your experiences will be obtained through email correspondence starting with a very brief questionnaire and some continued e-conversation so I can be sure that I understand your experiences.  The information obtained through this study will be completely confidential and will be shared only with health professionals and interested members of the public without identifying any individual who participated in the study. Anonymous participation is available for anyone who prefers to set up a special email account through one of the free email providers.

You are eligible to participate if you are:

Age 18 or older AND
Have either been diagnosed with OSA OR you think you may have OSA

Further information about me, my background and credentials and about the study can be found at
http://www.uwm.edu/People/brodg/sleepstudy.html

If you have any questions about this study please feel free to contact me via email at sleep@uwm.edu

I appreciate your consideration and hope you will be willing to share your stories in this effort to help shape the future of health care for people with OSA.  


Beth Rodgers, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor and Principal Investigator. OSA study
University of WI-Milwaukee
College of Nursing