ACCESS Research Opportunities Frequently Asked Questions

Clinical research at the Rehabilitation Centre for Children (RCC), a part of SSCY Centre, is important for understanding the needs and priorities of families, evaluating the most effective treatments and clinical services and informing future services and needs. It involves research about children and their families, our services, and how we can best continue to improve care. Clinical research allows us to continue to optimize the services and care Manitobans are receiving by introducing new methods and investigating what works best for our clients.

At RCC, participation in clinical research might involve:

• Filling out questionnaires about your child’s progress through early childhood and school
• Providing feedback about a program you participated in
• Participating in focus groups or interviews about your experiences
• Trialing new adaptive equipment
• Trialing new medication or therapies

RCC strives to continue to provide exceptional and innovative care to all Manitoban families. Innovation is supported by clinical research work done by RCC and other collaborators. We partner with research groups throughout the province such as ENRRICH (Excellence in Neurodevelopment and Rehabilitation Research in Child Health) and engage in national collaborations, which helps us continue to improve our services through impactful research.

To learn more about ongoing clinical research at RCC, please visit the RCC Research webpage.

To learn more about ENRRICH, please visit the ENRRICH website.

Participating in research could:

• Help shape new health policies, interventions, or methods of care
• Improve access to supports or resources
• Provide greater learning opportunities for you and your child
• Explore new treatments or rehabilitation methods

Your participation in research may not directly benefit your family or child.

No. Whether you choose to participate or not in the ACCESS program this will not affect any services or care you are receiving through RCC, other SSCY Centre partners, or any other care providers.

No. When you recieve services from RCC, you will be automatically enrolled into the ACCESS Research Opportunities program. You may opt out at any time using the opt-out form.
You can opt back in to the program by contacting research@rccinc.ca.

At this time, families attending appointments at RCC at the SSCY Centre on or after July 2nd 2025 are automatically enrolled in the ACCESS program.

You can opt out of ACCESS Research Opportunities at any time by clicking HERE to fill out our opt-out Form. Instructions on how to opt out will also be included on all communications you receive through ACCESS Research Opportunities. Opt-out requests may take up to two weeks to process and you may be contacted during this time.

You do not have to participate in any research, and you do not have to respond to any communications you may receive about research. If you have any further questions, please reach out to research@rccinc.ca.

After you opt out of ACCESS Research Opportunities, your contact information will no longer be included on any contact lists requested by researchers. You will not receive any communication about research through ACCESS Research Opportunities.

After opting out of ACCESS, you can re-enroll at any time by contacting us at research@rccinc.ca.

ACCESS Research Opportunities is part of RCC’s secure Electronic Medical Record software and is managed by our Privacy Officer.

All research that takes place at RCC has been approved by the RCC Research Department, the University of Manitoba’s Research Ethics Board, and the Provincial Health Research Privacy Committee. ACCESS Research Opportunities is a part of RCC’s secure Electronic Medical Record software and sensitive information is not shared with researchers. 

In accordance with Manitoba’s Personal Health Information Act, personal information that could be used to identify you or your child will not be released or published in any way. All research projects must have appropriate safeguards in place to protect your information before they are approved by our Research Department.

To learn more about RCC’s privacy policies, please visit our webpage.

Starting July 2nd, 2025, as a family attends appointments at RCC, they are automatically enrolled in ACCESS Research Opportunities. This allows them to be identified in RCC’s database as being eligible to participate in a given research project.

Once the RCC Research Department, the University of Manitoba Ethics Board and the Provincial Privacy Review Committee have approved a project, RCC-affiliated researchers can request a list of potential participants through ACCESS Research Opportunities. The RCC Privacy Officer then searches the RCC database for families eligible for a project. Families will then be contacted with the ethics-approved recruitment material.

To express interest in a study, a family must contact the researcher.

The emails you receive through ACCESS Research Opportunities will include information about a project and contact information for the researcher. Each email will also include a link to the ACCESS Research Opportunities Opt-out Form to be removed from the ACCESS Research Opportunities database, should you wish to do so.

Yes. Prior to the launch of ACCESS Research Opportunities families could sign a Consent to Contact form to gain access to research opportunities. If you signed a Consent to Contact form, you have automatically been included in the ACCESS Research Opportunities program.

RCC’s Privacy Officer will use the ACCESS Research Opportunities database to identify individuals that fit the inclusion criteria of an approved research project. Inclusion criteria are the set of rules researchers use to decide who can participate in a research project. They are used to identify those eligible for a project so you only receive information about research relevant to you. Information that ACCESS Research Opportunities may use to determine if you are eligible could include:

• Diagnosis
• Age
• Treatments/services accessed
• Medications

Contact information of families who meet the research project’s inclusion criteria is provided. No other information about you or your child is shared from the RCC medical record. No personal health information will be shared.

Families may contact the RCC-affiliated researchers provided in the ACCESS Research Opportunties communications if they have questions about the research project or are interested in participating.

Only RCC-affiliated researchers, with projects that have been approved by RCC’s Research Department, the University of Manitoba’s Research Ethics Board, and the Provincial Health Research Privacy Committee may request participant searches through ACCESS Research Opportunities.  RCC’s Privacy Officer will complete these searches. 

This is entirely dependent on the ongoing research at the RCC – you may be contacted for multiple studies or none at all. In general, you can expect to be contacted 1-2 times a year through ACCESS Research Opportunities.

No. When you receive information about studies via ACCESS Research Opportunities, you are not enrolled in those studies. If you are interested in participating in a research project, you must contact the researcher. Contact information for the researcher will be included on communications you receive through ACCESS Research Opportunities. You will not be enrolled in a study unless you respond to the request and give expressed consent to participate in the research project.