This thesis examines patient recruitment in clinical trials. It is a current and pressing issue, which is not sufficiently embedded in the thinking of doctors and patients, their patterns of communication, and more broadly in the traditional doctor-patient relationship, which continues to be burdened by post-socialist paternalism. The formal framework and ethics have been developed relatively recently, and their application causes confusion to all participants regarding how to proceed in specific situations. In addition, the choice of topic, and especially the form of dealing with the topic, was motivated by the relative lack of academic resources and publications in the field. The theoretical section of the thesis defines clinical research and its phases, and introduces basic terminology and documents closely linked to clinical research. In addition, it focuses on research ethics, thoroughly examining the issue of informed consent - a fundamental document necessary for recruiting a patient in a clinical trial. Finally, one chapter of the thesis focuses on the issue of medical literacy, the level of which is integral to the participants' understanding of the importance of clinical research, and directly affects participants' decision-making. The empirical section is divided into two parts. The...

<p>This research examines the opinions and viewpoints of former Crown Wards regarding the Assessment and Action Record (the AAR), which is the main documentation associated with the Looking After Children approach implemented for use with all children in care by the Ministry of Children and Youth for the Province of Ontario. This documentation, which consists of hundreds of questions and a research-based, check-list format, forms a significant component of the contact that Children’s Service Workers with Children’s Aid Societies have with children in care. Crown Wards, because they are in the permanent care of their Society, are subjected to the AAR yearly throughout their time in care. Open-ended interviews were conducted with four former Crown Wards from three separate Children’s Aid agencies in southwestern Ontario. While the findings did not bear out the anticipated overt criticism of the AAR documentation, what was salient was the hope that all of the information they gave over the years was being put to good use (that it might help themselves and other Crown Wards), that these former Crown Wards were not aware that they could decline to answer the AAR questions in whole or in part, and that the AAR document is felt to be too long and repetitive. In addition, issues of automatic compliance by children in care with requests made by CAS personnel became a discomforting theme.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)