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5.7.2 Contacting Eligible Programs to Determine Their Interest in the Study
In my initial communication with this small group of mixed-delivery programs,
my contact person was most often the program manager; in April and May 2010, I
emailed these individuals with an overview of the study (Appendix C: Initial information
for Volunteers and Staff), and a timeline outlining what would be required if their
program were to take part. I also provided information to allow programs to ascertain
whether they had enough staff and volunteers who would meet the study criteria (for
details, see Appendix B, Eligibility Criteria & Checklist). I also clarified that, while I was
preparing my submission for Ethics Review, I did not yet have Ethics approval from
Dalhousie University; and that because of this, I was not recruiting individual study
participants at this time.
I asked that my initial contact person do three things:
1. Determine if she was in an appropriate position to be the Agency Contact
Person during the study, and if not, to approach someone to act in that role
(duties outlined on final page of Appendix D: Memorandum of Understanding for
Participating Programs). All three participating programs were able to provide
an Agency Contact Person who met this criteria. These individuals played key
roles in participant recruitment, and in accessing program documents.
2. Determine what I, as the researcher, needed to do to satisfy the agency’s
ethical, practical, or other concerns.
3. Obtain feedback from staff and volunteers regarding their interest in their
program (not individuals) taking part in the study.
This third request was made to ensure that there were enough home visitors
(both paid and volunteer) who might be willing to put their names forward to take part
in the study. In order to help ensure that visitors were choosing to participate freely, I
requested that the written information provided be presented to staff and volunteers;
and that they, as a group, make a recommendation regarding whether or not their
program should take part. The program managers each took their own approach to
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