| Learning Objective #1: Identify barriers to recruitment in a diverse community | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Discuss successful recruitment strategies |
Objective: This presentation will describe a successful strategy for recruiting low-income women into an intervention study focused on improving physical activity.
Design: The study was a multi-method cohort intervention design that involved quantitative and qualitative methods.
Population, Sample & Setting: The setting was an inner city U.S. neighborhood comprised of low-income, medically underserved African American (~65%) and white (~33%) families who suffered from a high incidence of obesity related disorders. The setting had a newly built faith-based center that was utilized by many community members except women. Women between the ages of 18 and 64 years were targeted for inclusion in the study and 100 women from the community were recruited to participate.
Methods: Because the community had limited exposure to research, a strategy that included participatory research principles and community investment strategies was used to recruit subjects to the center and the study. Key community stakeholders played a significant role in entrée into the community. Culturally diverse investigators developed culturally sensitive recruitment activities.
Findings: Three key strategies were found to be most beneficial in developing rapport with the community and facilitating successful recruitment within this study. These were visibility of the investigators within various settings in the community; use of family members especially children and elders as supports for the benefits of the study; and emphasizing the role of study volunteers as community helpers and research collaborators.
Conclusions: The recruitment aspect of the study illustrated the importance of communication at many levels and with many audiences. Understanding roles, relationships and motivators for this community was one of the keys to successful recruitment and development of community trust.
Implications: Principles of successful recruitment involve complex communication and community analysis techniques that can be useful for other researchers as well as clinicians working with diverse communities.
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