Skip to main content

Table 3 Participant tracking protocol

From: The political and scientific challenges in evaluating compulsory drug treatment centers in Southeast Asia

This protocol was developed as a guidance for the study interviewers in their tracking of the study participant to improve successful follow-up of the study participants.

1. One month after last interview, call the participant to ensure that their phone number is still contactable, and remind them of the next approximate date for the next interview.

o Call the participants: 3 times/3 days/3 different times in the day (morning, afternoon, evening).

o The first call if the phone rings but not being picked up, send a text message (introducing name, from Hai Phong Medical University) to inform will call again.

o If the above don’t work, call next of kin.

2. Call the participant’s family members or friend that are listed in the consent form the participant provided (if any because some do not want to provide): for each locator (family member or friend) follow the same procedures below:

o Call next of kin: 3 times/3 days/3 different times in the day

o If the phone rings but not being picked up, send a text message (introducing name, from Hai Phong Medical University) to inform will call again.

→ If (1) and (2) don’t work, move to step 3 and 4 concurrently.

2. Interviewer check the excel administrative list of participants, use excel search tool to look for participants who have somewhat similar home addresses (they live near each other), call 1 or 2 participants whose address is near to ask them to give a message.

3. Use the address they provided in the consent form, send them a reminder note (using sample/format provided).

4. f they do not return the call after 4 days (from the send date of the reminder note), use the address they provided to look for their home to see if they still live there.

5. Two months after the interview, repeat the steps from 1 to 5;

6. If still not successful, wait until 7 days before the scheduled next interview, repeat the steps from 1 to 5;

7. If still not successful, skip this interview (consider missing of 1 wave);

8. Repeat steps from 1 to 5 for the future waves;

 
  1. Note:
  2. Each interviewer has been provided with a tracking book with tables laid out, please remember to take notes of all information related to dates of phone calls, dates of sending text messages, dates of sending letters, dates of home visits and other related information that are helpful to assist successful tracking of participants
Back to article page

Harm Reduction Journal

ISSN: 1477-7517