Effective Recruitment of Minority Populations Through Community-Led Strategies

Abstract

Background Traditional research approaches frequently fail to yield representative numbers of people of color in research. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) may be an important strategy for partnering with and reaching populations who bear a greater burden of illness but have been historically difficult to engage. A Community Action Board of 20 East Harlem residents, leaders and advocates used CBPR to compare the effectiveness of different strategies in recruiting and enrolling adults with prediabetes into a peer-led diabetes prevention intervention. Methods The Board created five different recruitment strategies: recruiting through clinicians, at large public events like farmers markets, organizing special local recruitment events, recruiting at local organizations, and a partner-led approach in which community partners developed and managed the recruitment efforts at their sites. Results In 3 months, 555 local adults were approached; 249 were appropriate candidates for further evaluation (overweight, nonpregnant, East Harlem residents without known diabetes); 179 consented and returned fasting for 1/2 day of prediabetes testing; and 99 had prediabetes and enrolled in a pilot randomized trial. The partner-led approach was most successful, recruiting 68% of people enrolled. This was also the most efficient strategy; 34% of those approached through partners were ultimately enrolled, versus 0%–17% through the other four strategies. Participants were predominantly low-income, uninsured, undereducated Spanish-speaking women. Conclusions This CBPR approach highlights the value of a partner-led recruitment to identify, reach out and motivate a vulnerable population into research, using techniques that may be unfamiliar to researchers, but are nevertheless rigorous and effective.

The Role of Community-Based Participatory Research to Inform Local Health Policy: A Case Study

“…This process helps recruit study participants, 16 and also increases the likelihood that interventions will be acceptable in the community where they are implemented. Individuals can potentially benefit both from planning interventions and participating in them.…”

Are survivorship care plans responsive to African-American breast cancer survivors?: voices of survivors and advocates

“…The current study aimed to respond to this notable gap in the research and literature by employing a community-based participatory research (CBPR) framework, involving members of the community in every aspect of the research process [26,27]. The study reports input from AABCS and advocates on appropriate cultural and socioecological content for an SCP template.…”

Challenges associated with recruiting multigenerational, multicultural families into a randomised controlled trial: Balancing feasibility with validity

“…Cold contacts were made via internet searches of community organisations. Many researchers working with minority groups from South Asian and other countries have recommended forming links with community leaders (e.g., [3,14,15,22,30]). Leaders are able to help explain the importance of the study to their community using acceptable language and contexts and therefore aid in ameliorating trust concerns.…”

“…Flyers and leaflets [8,16,18,21,22,26,32] Flyers with tear-off slips and small leaflets were printed and posted in consulates, shopping centres, community libraries, churches, cafes, restaurants, food markets, specialty food stores, medical practices, hospitals, nursing homes, community centres, fitness centres, sports clubrooms, and staff lunchrooms throughout metropolitan Adelaide. Via key community contacts [3,8,[14][15][16]22,27,30,31] Key contacts in the Vietnamese, Italian and Chinese communities were contacted by phone, email and in person.…”