The course I am taking is FinTech so together we can brainstorm on ideas for the topic. Once this proposal is done I am looking forward to working with you again on creating the actual thesis. Below I will leave an example of how the research proposal is to be done as well as a blank form where the actual proposal will done.

Describe your overall research approach (150 words). 3. Describe in detail the key variables you will be measuring, including how you have conceptualised and operationalised those variables. (400 words) 4. Describe in detail the tools and/or techniques you will use for collecting your data, highlighting how they are designed to measure the variables described above. For complex protocols please consider including supplementary details as an appendix (400 words) 5. Explain the steps you have taken or will take to ensure the validity of your measurement tools/techniques (150 words). 6. What approach will you take to analysing your data? For complex analytical protocols you may consider submitting supplementary information as an appendix (250 words) Section E. Ethical Considerations 1. Does your project involve working with or collecting human data? 2. Describe how you will recruit participants non-coercively. (100 words) 3. Describe the steps you will take to obtain informed consent from your participants prior to gathering their data (information sheet & consent form must be included as appendix). (100 words) 4. What steps will you take to ensure that the right to privacy and data protection are fulfilled? (200 words) 5. Please declare any conflicts of interest that could affect any stage of the research project (100 words) 6. Does your project involve any non-disclosure agreements with an organisation or entity? If so please provide details (100 words) Research Proposal Guidelines for Completing this form: – The form should be completed using Calibri font, size 12. – Students must provide answer for every question. If a question is deemed ‘nonapplicable’ do not leave it blank. You must explain why it is not applicable. – Word counts for individual questions must not be exceeded. – The completed form must be submitted via moodle using the CA2 link Section A. Applicant Details Student Name Student Number Submission Date Module Code Program Code and Name Research Methods Lecturer Section B. Project Title (15 words) Examining barriers to accessing healthcare among students in Ireland and potential eHealth Solutions Section C. Aims & Rationale 1. Briefly introduce your research topic, highlighting the key issues around which your project is based. (600 words) For many young people, university represents a major period of transition and change during which they mature from adolescence into young adulthood. During this period students need to make adjustments across many areas of life and learn to be independent and self-reliant. One particularly challenging aspect of independence and self-reliance is finding and accessing necessary healthcare services without the assistance of a caregiver. Worryingly, however, research has shown that a high proportion of University students, across different cultures, in fact avoid or delay seeking medical care when they experience symptoms of ill-health (e.g. Boltena et al., 2012; Hof et al., 2017; Montagni et al., 2017; National Observatory for Student Life, 2016). This is concerning since failure or delaying to seek medical treatment can result in late detection of life threatening illnesses, lower survival rates and reduced quality of life (Byrne, 2008; Ohl et al., 2010; Richards et al., 1999; Weissman et al., 1991). Studies have shown that the most common reasons given by students, cross culturally, for avoiding medical care include low perceived necessity, lack of resources (time and money), affective concerns and lack of knowledge about services (Afolabi et al., 2013; Beck & Richard, 2016; Boltena et al., 2012; Kahi et al., 2012; National Observatory for Student Life, 2016; Perrault, 2015; Tang et al., 2018; Tylee et al., 2007). Although many of these barriers are reported in the general population and form the basis of theoretical models that purport to explain medical care avoidance (e.g. Carrillo et al., 2011; Taber, Leyva & Persoskie, 2015), lack of knowledge about available services appears to be somewhat unique to the younger population. Tang et al. (2018) coined the term ‘navigational barriers’ to refer to difficulties that students experience in finding, understanding, selecting and using healthcare services. They highlighted that navigational barriers are particularly relevant for international students due to their unfamiliarity with local infrastructure and the geographical landscape of the host country. In light of the navigational barriers that impede access to healthcare, there have been calls for the development of interactive tools that offer students step-by-step guidance and practical information about how and where to access healthcare services (Tang et al., 2018). To address this issue researchers in France developed a digital eHealth app for the University of Bordeaux that provides practical information to encourage and assist students in navigating access to youth-friendly, low-cost and free healthcare (Montagni et al., 2017). Before using the app, only 46% of students were aware of affordable services but this figure rose to 85% as a reslt of using the app (Montagni et al., 2018). eHealth solutions thus represent a promising opportunity for overcoming the barriers to healthcare among students. However, as of yet, the barriers have not yet been fully characterised and the potential value of this app has not yet been evaluated in other countries. 2. Describe clearly the aims and objectives of your research project (300 words) Primary Aim: This project primarily aims to examine barriers to healthcare experienced by domestic and International Students studying in Dublin, Ireland. Primary Objectives: To achieve the primary aim, students will be surveyed about their behavioural patterns with respect to accessing healthcare and the barriers that they experience when trying to access health services. Secondary Aim: Secondary to this, the study will explore the potential value of developing a digital app designed to help students access youth-friendly medical services in Dublin. Secondary Objectives: To achieve the secondary aim, questions will be included in the survey that are designed to ascertain whether students would be in favour of using an app to help them access health care. Interviews will be carried out with a small sample of students to better understand the issues that such an app would be required to address. 3. What is your research question? (50 words) Primary Question: What are the barriers that students in Ireland experience with respect to accessing healthcare services? Secondary Question: Is there a market for a digital app that is designed to help students navigate access to local inexpensive medical care? 4. What will be the main contribution and/or value arising from your research project? (200 words) In Ireland, very little is currently known about the health seeking and health avoidance behaviours of third level students, both domestic and international. Horgan and Sweeney (2012) reported that 66% of young people in Ireland use the internet to search for health related information. However, this does not speak to the issue of whether students in Ireland avoid seeking medical consultations or experience the barriers to medical care that have been documented in other countries. The results of this study will fill an important gap in knowledge in this regard and inform the ongoing development of innovative eHealth services. According to the Health Services Executive of Ireland (HSEI), eHealth a key factor in the reform of the Irish healthcare system. Section D. Literature Review (1500 words) This literature review will deal with two key themes relevant to the proposed research study. The first theme will focus on the problem of health care avoidance, its consequences for young people and the barriers associated with it. In addressing this theme information and evidence will be drawn from theoretical models and frameworks that explain the concept of healthcare avoidance and empirical evidence highlighting the common antedecents of healthcare avoidance. The second theme will focus on emerging trends in eHealth with a focus on its use as a tool to promote and encourage health seeking behaviour among young people. Theme 1: Healthcare Avoidance The Problem of Healthcare Avoidance Healthcare avoidance is a complex and multidimensional construct (Byrne, 2008). The physical and behavioural dimensions of healthcare avoidance encompass distancing oneself from medical care facilities and choosing alternatives courses of action to deal with medical symptoms. The cognitive, emotional and social dimensions encompass the failure to acknowledge a medical situation or employ active coping strategies and the tendency to isolate oneself from support networks (Byrne, 2008). According to Byrne (2008), healthcare avoidance can manifest itself in the form of not seeking medical care, delaying seeking medical care, not adhering to treatment regimes and/or failure to take preventive action. The phenomenon of healthcare avoidance is a major global concern because any delay in diagnosing and treating illness can result in fatal consequences. For instance, the World Health Organisation (2017) report that delayed detection of cancer increases the risk of mortality, disability and human suffering. Similarly, the delayed detection and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases is associated with later development of cancer, infertility and other life threatening or life altering diseases as well as an increased risk of transmission (Eng & Butler, 1997). For these reasons there has been a major effort to understand why people delay seeking medical treatment in the first place. Understanding Healthcare Avoidance There are many theoretical models that attempt to explain health behaviours. For instance, the Health Beliefs Model (Rosenstock, 1966; 1990) posits that engagement in healthpromoting or health-seeking behaviour is dependent on factors such as perceived susceptibility to and perceived severity of the consequences of health problems, perceived benefits of taking action, perceived barriers to taking action, the presence of action cues, the sense of self-efficacy and individual characteristics such as personality, cultural beliefs or demographics. Overall this model has received strong support in terms of explaining and predicting health behaviour (Carpenter, 2007) and has informed a number of interventions designed to promote health-seeking behaviour (Glanz et al., 2008; Jones et al., 2014). By far one of the strongest and most consistent predictors of health seeking behaviour described in the Health Belief Model is the presence or absence of perceived barriers to healthcare (Carpenter, 2010). In line with this, research in recent years has become increasingly focused on better understanding the barriers that cause people to avoid healthcare with the view to overcoming these. The Healthcare Access Barriers Model put forward by Carrillo et al. (2011), defines three main categories of healthcare barriers including cognitive, structural and financial barriers. Cogntiive barriers include lack of knowledge about services, lack of understanding of illness processes and communication difficulties. Structural barriers include issues of time, transport, location of services and availability. Financial barriers include lack of money and/or insurance. This model, though not a complete framework for understanding all aspects of health behaviour and healthcare avoidance, has been developed specifically to highlight and target modifiable barriers. Another more recent model put forward by Taber and colleagues (2015) was informed by a large scale survey of the general population in the US. This model describes the main barriers to be lack of resources (finance, time, support services), low perceived need for medical care and unfavourable evaluations of medical care that are grounded in fear and distrust. Healthcare Avoidance Among Students The issue of healthcare avoidance is particularly relevant in the student population because this cohort is typically made up of young people who are emerging from adolescence and transitioning to adulthood. This period of transition brings responsibility and new challenges in terms of becoming autonomous and self-reliant individuals. In the domain of healthcare however, data suggests that students may be neglecting to take action in order to maintain their health. Montagni et al. (2017) in a survey of French students reported that 62% had avoided visiting a doctor in the previous year despite suspecting that there was a need to. Similar findings have been reported elsewhere in the literature (e.g. Beck & Richard, 2016; Boltena et al., 2012; Hof et al., 2017; National Observatory for Student Life, 2016). Many of the reasons for avoiding medical care among students are similar to those observed in the general population. For instance students are concerned about high costs in terms of time and money (Afolabi et al., 2013; Boltena et al., 2012; Kahi et al., 2012; Montagni et al., 2017; National Observatory for Student Life, 2016). Additionally, they may fail to perceive the necessity to seek care or experience negative personal and emotional reactions to the prospect of seeking care (National Observatory for Student Life, 2016). However, a key factor that particularly hinders access to healthcare among students is the lack of fundamental knowledge about healthcare services that are available to them and how to access these (Boltena et al., 2012; Kahi et al., 2012; National Observatory for Student Life, 2016; Perrault, 2015; Tang et al., 2018). This may be attributable to the fact that University students have previously relied on caregivers to arrange medical consultations for them and therefore they are unfamiliar with the system that is in place. As Tang et al. (2018) pointed out, the challenge of understanding the healthcare system fully enough to be able to navigate access to services is particularly difficult for non-national students. In Ireland, very little is known about healthcare avoidance behaviours among students and what barriers they experience in terms of trying to access healthcare. This is an important issue that needs to be addressed by future research. Theme 2: e-Health Solutions The term e-health refers to the use of digital, electronic resources and technology for the purpose of providng health information and services (World Health Organisation, 2016). Recent reports indicate that the use of ehealth services is increasing rapidly (Wong et al., 2019). Students in particular report seeking information about health matters through the internet (e.g. Buhi et al., 2009; Escoffery et al., 2005; Fox & Duggan, 2013; Horgan & Sweeney, 2016; Montagni et al., 2018; Siliquini et al., 2011) and they report a high level of trust for the information that they learn onling (Beck et al., 2014). Indeed, although students do not currently believe that eHealth can replace medical consultation, many believe that this may be possible in the future (Montagni et al., 2018). The fact that students are turning to the internet for medical advice is concerning because web-based information is often inaccurate and quality control is limited. Many people accessing medical information online, particularly those with low health literacy, are unable to accurately evaluate the validity of online sources resulting in a failure to identify false information (Benotsch et al., 2004; Diviani et al., 2015). One solution to this is to develop eHealth resources designed for students that contain legitimate and valid information. For instance, the Irish Student Health Association have worked in collaboration with the company Expert Self Care Ltd to develop a mobile app and supporting eBook called Student Health Matters that provides students with accurate information about health issues that affect them (Irish Student Health Association, 2020). Whilst the development of eHealth solutions designed to combat misinformation represents a positive step forward in healthcare, there is concern that young people may ultimately. feel less compelled to seek formal medical assistance given the availability of online information and services (Beck et al., 2014; Montagni et al., 2017). Therefore eHealth solutions must not solely be directed at improving the accuracy of online information but also at combatting the barriers that prevent students from accessing or seeking formal medical care. Digital apps, such as the one developed by researchers in Bordeaux, offer a promising avenue through which to help students overcome the navigational issues that seem to prevent them from seeking formal care (Montagni et al., 2017; 2018). The app in question provides students with information about affordable and free local health services along with practical information needed for accessing those services. Early results based on evaluative studies of the app suggest that it is useful and effective (Montagni et al., 2018) and thereby provide impetus for similar research to be carried out in other countries. In Ireland, for instance, it is reasonable to hypothesise that students may experience similar difficulties in understanding and navigating access to the healthcare system. Therefore the research proposed here will attempt to establish the exact barriers that students in Ireland face with the view to informing the future development of similar eHealth tools that assist them in overcoming these barriers. Section E. Methodology 1. Describe your research sample (incl. demographic characteristics, inclusion & exclusion criteria) and explain why you have chosen this sample as your source of data. (250 words) The population of interest in this study includes domestic and international students studying at Third Level Institutions in Dublin between the ages of 18-25. This age bracket has been chosen so as to capture the behaviour of students during the transitional life period between adolescence and adulthood. Students of all demographics will be recruited to take part in this study in order to obtain a representative sample of domestic and international students. A further pre-requisite for taking part in the study is that students must not be suffering from any ongoing medical issues requiring treatment or doctor visits. The inclusion of those students could lead to overestimating medical seeking behaviour in the population. Dublin Business School has been selected for the recruitment of participants as the student population is diverse with many students attending from countries outside of Ireland. A sample size of 200 respondents for the surveys will be sought while 10 students will …