Topics for Participant Managers

This chapter covers topics of interest to Onyx users of type participant manager, including:

• Key concepts
• Procedures that can only be done by participant managers:
  • Receiving a participant
  • Enrolling a volunteer participant (customizable)
  • Editing a participant's registration information
  • Updating the appointment list
  • Unlocking an interview

Key Concepts

This section contains concepts of interest to participant managers.

Receiving vs. Enrolling a Participant

Some studies invite people to participate in the study and set up appointments to interview them. These participants are added to the Onyx database when the appointment list is updated (see Updating the Appointment List). When a participant arrives at the centre for their interview, a participant manager receives them. Receiving a participant involves finding the participant in Onyx, assigning a Participant ID, and checking some information about the participant that Onyx already obtained from the appointment list. See Receiving a Participant.

Some studies accept volunteer or walk-in participants. When a volunteer participant arrives at an assessment centre, a participant manager must enroll them. Enrolling a participant involves assigning a Participant ID and entering some information about the participant. See Enrolling a Participant.

Enrolling volunteer participants is a customizable feature of Onyx. If your study accepts volunteers, participant managers will see the Enroll volunteer button in the upper right corner of the Participants page. See this figure.

Procedures

Receiving a Participant

When a participant (who has been invited to participate in the study) arrives at the site for their interview, a participant manager must receive them as explained in this section.

You will have to assign a Participant ID number, the number that will be used to track the participant during the interview and, will probably be used to track their data for the duration of the study. It is important to review the list of participants carefully when registering a new participant and assigning them a Participant ID.

Prerequisites

• You must be an Onyx user of type participant manager
• The appointment list should have been updated recently to ensure that the participant is in the Onyx database. See Updating the Appointment List.
• You must be prepared to assign a new Participant ID to the participant.

  Each study determines how it will assign Participant IDs: either by scanning a barcode or by manually entering a number in a certain format and from a certain series of numbers.

Procedure

1. If the Participants page is not displayed, select the Participants tab to display it. (see this figure)
   The Participants page as it appears to participant managers

   

2. Search for the participant in any of the ways described in Finding a Participant. After you find the participant, their name is displayed in Participants list and Receive appears in the Actions column for the participant. See this figure.
   Finding the participant that you want to receive

   

3. Select the Receive link for the participant that you want to receive. The Participant Reception page is displayed. See this figure.
   Example of the Participant Reception page—the fields are defined by the study page

   

   If Onyx has been configured to generate participant identifiers, the Participant ID field will have a Generate ID button next to it. Click on this button to automatically generate an ID for the participant being received. See this figure
   Participant ID field with Generate ID button

   

4. If your study requires that you check a photo ID of the participant, now would be a convenient time to do so.
5. Check the information in the Participant Registration page with the participant and correct it, if necessary. Ensure that all required fields (marked with asterisks) are filled in. Fill in optional fields if the participant is willing to provide the information.

   The fields you see were defined by your study and may be different from those shown in this figure. Some fields are already completed with information that is in the appointment list. Certain key information (such as Enrollment ID in this figure) cannot be edited.

6. Assign a participant ID by scanning a new barcode or by entering a value manually in the Participant ID field.
7. If you decide not to proceed with receiving the participant, select the Cancel button. The Participant Reception page closes and the Participants page is redisplayed unchanged.
8. If you want to go ahead with receiving the participant, select the Save button. The Participant Reception page closes and the Participants page is redisplayed. The Status of the participant's interview has been updated to In Progress and Interview has been added in the Actions column for the participant. See this figure.
   After you receive a participant, the Participants page is updated

   

9. If there are several pages of participants in the list, you can step through the pages in the list or search for the participant in order to confirm the change in their status or start the interview.

The participant can now be interviewed. See The Simplest Way to Start an Interview or Entering the Interview page.

Enrolling a Participant

If your study accepts volunteer participants, a participant manager can enroll them as explained in this section.You will have to assign a Participant ID number, the number that will be used to track the participant during the interview and, will probably be used to track their data for the duration of the study. It is important to review the list of participants carefully when registering a new participant and assigning them a Participant ID.

Prerequisites

• You must be an Onyx user of type participant manager
• Your study accepts volunteer participants. The Enroll volunteer button is displayed in the Participants page as shown in this figure.
• You must be prepared to assign a new Participant ID to the participant.

  Each study determines how it will assign Participant IDs: either by scanning a barcode, by manually entering a number in a certain format and from a certain series of numbers, or by automatically generating an ID.

Procedure

1. If the Participants page is not displayed, select the Participants tab to display it. The Enroll volunteer button is displayed in the upper right corner.(see this figure).
2. Select the Enroll volunteer button. The Volunteer Registration page is displayed. See this figure.

   The fields you see were defined by your study and may differ from those shown in this figure.

   Example of the Volunteer Registration page—the fields are defined by the study

   

3. If your study requires that you check a photo ID of the participant, now would be a convenient time to do so.
4. Complete the fields. Required fields are indicated with an asterisk. You can scan a barcode to obtain a participant ID or enter a value manually.
5. If you decide not to enroll the participant, select the Cancel button. The Volunteer Registration page closes and the Participants page is redisplayed unchanged.
6. If you want to go ahead with enrolling the participant, select the Save button. The Volunteer Registration page closes and the Participants page is redisplayed. The participant's status updated to In Progress and Interview has been added in the Actions column for the participant. See this figure.
   After you enroll a volunteer, the Participants page is updated

   

Enrolling a Participant from an External System

If Onyx has been configured to look up participant information stored in an external system (a "participant registry"), the enrollment procedure is slightly different.

You will first search for the participant in that system, using whatever unique identifier that system requires. After that, you will assign to that participant a Participant ID.

Prerequisites

The prerequisites are the same as in "regular" enrollment.

Procedure

1. The Participant Registry button is displayed in the upper right corner of the Participants page. See this figure.
   Participant Registry button

   

2. Select the Participant Registry button. The Participant Registry Lookup pop-up window is displayed. See this figure.

   The fields you see were defined by your study and may differ from those shown in this figure.

   Example of the Participant Registry Lookup pop-up—the fields are defined by the study

   

3. Enter the participant's unique identifier and select Lookup. Upon a successful lookup, the participant fields will be filled in with the retrieved information.
4. To enroll the participant, select Receive. The Volunteer Registration page will be displayed. Now proceed the same way as with "regular" enrollment.
5. If you decide not to enroll the participant, select the Cancel button. The Participant Registry Lookup pop-up window closes and the Participants page is redisplayed unchanged.

Editing a Participant's Registration Information

After a participant has been received or enrolled, a participant manager can edit their registration information. It is potentially dangerous to change a participant's registration information after their interview has been started. For example, changing the participant's gender could cause a problem since some physical measurements and questionnaires depend on it. Onyx does not prevent you from creating this kind of problem.

Each study defines the registration information that is stored for a participant. Certain key information (such as the participant's name and ID numbers) cannot be changed after the participant was received or enrolled. Other information can be modified.

Prerequisites

• You must be an Onyx user of type participant manager

Procedure

1. If the Participants page is not displayed, click the Participants tab.
2. Find the participant whose information you want to edit. If you need help finding the participant, see Finding a Participant. When the Participants list is displayed, an Edit link appears (in the Actions column) for the participant. See this figure.
   To edit a participant's registration information, click their Edit link.

   

3. Select the Edit link for the participant. The Edit Participant dialog is displayed. See this figure.

   Each study defines the information that is stored for its participants. You may not see the same fields as those shown in this figure.

   Example: Edit Participant dialog—each study defines which information is stored for its participants.

   

4. Make the necessary changes. Certain key information (such as the participant's name and ID numbers) cannot be edited.
5. If you decide not to store the changes, select the Cancel button.
6. If you want to proceed with changing the information, select the Save button. The Edit Participant dialog closes. Your changes have been stored in the Onyx database.

Updating the Appointment List

Onyx does not schedule appointments for participants. Instead it imports an appointment list from a file. The appointment list is updated automatically. If necessary, Onyx users of type participant manager can also update the appointment list manually as explained in this section.

Your study customized how often the appointment list is updated. Contact your system administrator if you want to know how often the list is updated or have any other questions about the list.

Prerequisite

• You are an Onyx user of type participant manager.
• If you want to select an appointment list file, you must know the name and location of such files. Appointment files usually have an XML or XLSL extension.
  

  Each study customizes its appointment list. Your study defined the file type, name, and location, as well as the information stored for each participant. Contact your system administrator to know more about appointment list files for your study.

Procedure

1. If the Participants page is not displayed, select the Participants tab to display it. The Update appointment list button is displayed in the upper right corner. See this figure.
   Participant managers see the Update appointment list button in the Participants page

   

2. Select the Update appointment list button. The Update Appointments dialog is displayed. See this figure.
   The Update Appointments dialog

   

3. If you want to use the appointment file from the default location, select the first option button (Update appointments with the latest appointment file available).
4. If you want to search for an appointment list file to use for the update, select the second option button (Update appointments with an alternative appointment file). If you need help locating a file, contact your system administrator.
5. If you decide not to update the list, select the Cancel button. The Update Appointments dialog is closed and the Participants page is visible again.
6. If you want to proceed with updating the list, select the Update Appointments button. During the update, a progress bar is displayed in the dialog. When the update is complete, the dialog displays a report about the update. See this figure.
   The Update Appointments dialog displays a report when the update is complete

   

7. Select the Details button if you want to read more about how the update went. A Log dialog is displayed. If any errors were reported in the log, contact your system administrator. When you have finished viewing the log, select the Close button of the dialog.
8. When you have finished viewing the report in the Update Appointments dialog, select its Close button. The dialog is closed and the Participants page is visible again. The list of participants is now up-to-date.

Unlocking an Interview

When a staff member is in the middle of an interview stage with a participant, that staff member has a lock on the interview. This prevents conflicts in storing data. Occasionally, you may need to unlock an interview. For example, a technical problem may be preventing the interview from being released, or the staff member who has a lock on the interview is not able to continue the interview. A participant manager can unlock the interview as explained in this section.

Prerequisite

You are an Onyx user of type participant manager.

Procedure

1. If the Participants page is not displayed, select the Participants tab to display it.
2. Locate the participant whose interview is locked. See this figure.
   A participant manager can unlock an interview in the Particpants page

   

3. Select the Interview link for the participant whose interview you want to unlock. A message is displayed asking you to confirm that you want to unlock the interview.
   A message asks you to confirm that you want to unlock the interview

   

4. If you decide not to unlock the interview, select the No or Cancel button. The Participants page is visible displayed. The interview is still locked.
5. To unlock the interview, select the Yes button. The Interview page for the participant is displayed.
6. To allow another Onyx user to work on the interview, select the Exit X button. The Interview page closes. The Participants page is visible displayed. The interview is unlocked.

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