Information for Potential Participants

By adding your name and contact information to the Directory of Potential Research Participants, you may be contacted by researchers involved in aging and/or health research.  Access to the Directory will only be given to persons who have a formal affiliation with the Centre on Aging and Health (CAH) and who have received University of Regina Research Ethics Board (REB) approval for each specific project. Moreover, each time you are contacted and asked to participate in research, details of the specific project will be provided to you before you give consent. You have the right to refuse participation or withdraw from any study at any time without penalty.

Each researcher that contacts you will ask whether you wish to remain in the directory. Should you decide that you wish to have your information removed from the directory at that time, the researcher will inform the CAH of the same and your information will be deleted from the directory. Researchers will be asked to advise the CAH if they come across any out of date information.  You can also arrange for your name to be withdrawn from the directory at any time by contacting the Centre on Aging and Health (University of Regina, Regina, SK, S4S 0A2) or the Directory Coordinator directly (306-337-8477; cah@uregina.ca).

Participant Pool Procedures

1. Access to Directory: All individuals must be affiliated with the CAH before they can access the directory. Researchers must have received REB approval for their projects and submit a signed request each time that they wish to access the directory (see # 3 below). Applications for use of the directory should be sent to the Directory Coordinator (CAH Administrator, 306-337-8477, cah@uregina.ca). Researchers are encouraged to acknowledge the limitations of using a directory of volunteer participants in any published reports or conference presentations.

2. Potential Participants: Names and contact information of potential participants to be included in the directory will be obtained as follows: CAH researchers will been encouraged to ask older adults (as well as younger adults) participating in aging research whether they are interested in registering with the CAH in order to be contacted by other researchers who require older participants (see Appendix A). Each researcher contacting individuals listed in the directory will ask each contacted participant if they wish to remain in the directory. Researchers will be asked to advise the CAH if they come across any out of date information. The names of any potential participants indicating that they do not wish to remain listed in the directory will be deleted. People will also be able to register with the directory by signing up on the CAH’s website, or by contacting the Directory Coordinator directly.

3. Application for Use of Directory: In order to use the directory, researchers must complete an application form and provide a copy of the REB Clearance for each specific project. Approvals will be needed for each proposed project. The Director of the CAH will reserve the right to refuse access to the directory of participants for cause, or if there is any indication that too many demands are being placed on the individuals listed in the directory at any one time. Researchers will have to sign the bottom portion of the application indicating that they will only use the names for the specified studies that have been considered by the Directory Coordinator and/or the Director of the Centre. In any instance in which researchers fail to comply with their signed statement (i.e., using the directory without clearance), the matter will be referred to the Office of the VP Research.

4. Potential Research Participant Sign-Up Procedure: Once a researcher has received approval to use the directory, he or she will be given access to names and contact information. The researcher will be able to contact potential participants directly via telephone, postal mail, or electronic mail to determine whether that particular older adult is interested and available to participate. Once the required number of participants has been obtained, researchers will be advised in writing that they are expected to destroy any copies of participant names and contact information given to them. If they are given direct access to the directory on the University server, their access will be discontinued by the Directory Coordinator at the completion of each project. Researchers given access will be informed that they must abide by the expectations listed herein.

5. Incentive for Participants: Individual researchers are responsible for providing remuneration for participants if any is to be given.

6. Directory Storage and Sharing: The Directory Coordinator and the CAH will maintain a copy of the directory on the University server or in REDCap. The file will be password protected. Researchers with approvals as indicated above, will be sent an electronic copy of the directory after they confirm in writing that a) they will delete any and all copies of the directory once their project has been completed; b) they will only store the directory on a local computer drive (or the U of R server) and not in any external server.

To sign up to participate, use the supplied application form (download file below) and mail or fax it.

Or click here to fill out the online form.