Introduction Biobank-based research is growing in importance. A major controversy exists about the return of aggregate and individual research results. Methods The authors used a mixed-method approach in order to study parents' attitudes towards the return of research results regarding themselves and their children. Participants attended four 2-h, deliberative-engagement sessions held on two consecutive Saturdays. Each session consisted of an educational presentation followed by focus-group discussions with structured questions and prompts. This manuscript examines discussions from the second Saturday which focused (...) on the benefits and risks of returning aggregate and individual research results regarding both adults (morning session) and children (afternoon session). Attitudes were assessed in pre-engagement and post-engagement surveys. Results The authors recruited 45 African-American adults whose children received medical care at two healthcare facilities on the South Side of Chicago that serve different socioeconomic communities. Three dominant themes were identified. First, most participants stated that they would enrol themselves and their children in a biobank, although there was a vocal minority opposed to enrolling children, particularly children unable to participate in the consent process. Second, participants did not distinguish between the results they wanted to receive regarding themselves and their children. Supplemental survey data found no attitudinal changes pre-engagement and post-engagement. Third, participants believed that children should be allowed access to their health information, but they wanted to be involved in deciding when and how the information was shared. Discussion Participant attitudes are in tension with current biobank policies. An intensive educational effort had no effect on their attitudes. (shrink)

The via contemplativa and the via activa have been seen as two parallel tracks in spirituality. The separation is inevitable without a rich Trinitarian anchor. Uniting the Western, substantive view of God and the Eastern, relational view offers the hope of an integrative spirituality: the coming together of Mary and Martha, the active and the contemplative life. The high-priestly prayer of Jesus in the garden offers a similar vision of integration: Intimacy and fruitfulness are possible through a mutual indwelling empowered (...) by the Holy Spirit. We feed on the living bread so that the life of Christ is manifest in the world. At the table hostility becomes hospitality. Missional spirituality is founded on a single movement of Godself into the world: mission as the self-unfolding of contemplation. (shrink)