Participant recruitment guidance

Covenant is a research-friendly organization that values the benefits research opportunities can bring to patients. The Covenant Health Research Centre (CHRC) supports the conduct of high-quality research projects in all Covenant facilities.

On first visit, prior to recruitment for research purposes, a researcher must present to clinical staff:

• an ethics approval letter from an Alberta Health Information Act (HIA)-approved ethics board — the Health Research Ethics Board (HREB), Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board (CHREB) or Health Research Ethics Board of Alberta (HREBA). See the CHRC Ethics page for more information.
• an operational/administrative approval letter from the CHRC

Note: An orientation meeting with appropriate clinical unit staff and research staff is recommended to discuss project and clinical expectations and procedures.

Best practice for participant recruitment

According to HIA Sections 54(1)d and 55 and International Council Harmonisation-Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GC) E6(R2) 4.8.3 Informed Consent, obtaining permission to approach patients for research purposes is necessary to ensure that studies are conducted ethically and responsibly and that patients do not feel any obligation to participate. Therefore, Covenant staff must first act as an intermediary to determine if a patient is willing to be approached by a researcher for potential participation in a study or trial. This must be done prior to any direct patient contact or access to health records/data.

Guidance for Covenant staff

To comply with ethical and regulatory guidelines, Covenant staff are required to act as the first point of contact for participant recruitment. It is the role of the Covenant staff member to ensure that the patient:

• is willing to be approached by a research team member
• understands that they will receive the best available care whether they choose to participate in research or not
• understands that they can talk to their care team about their research experience or if they have any questions or concerns

If you are unsure about the status of a research project or have concerns about how research is conducted, please contact research@covenanthealth.ca.

Guidance for researchers

Researchers will demonstrate compliance with the CHRC Research policy and will refrain from pursuing any research activities until all required reviews and approvals are in place. Researchers and designates will carry out their work with integrity by conducting research in an honest, responsible and accountable manner that reflects Covenant Health's values and Code of Conduct.

Key messages

• All proper reviews and approvals must be in place before a research team can begin recruitment.
• A Covenant staff member must act as an intermediary in identifying if a patient is willing to be contacted by members of a research team for research purposes.
• All researchers must comply with all Covenant policies, any restrictions and the CHRC Research policy while at a Covenant site.
• All researchers must conduct themselves in a responsible and ethical manner.