Hispanic Male Recruitment into Obesity-Related Research: Evaluating Content Messaging Strategies, Experimental Findings, and Practical Implications

Abstract

Hispanic men have the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity among men in the U.S. Current research is lacking to inform best practices to engage Hispanic men in obesity-related research. The purpose of this work was to evaluate messaging strategies to engage Hispanic men in obesity-related research. Outreach took place in an outdoor marketplace in Southern Arizona, US. Messaging strategies (fear appeal/arousal, positive masculinity, and spousal convergence) identified in formative research were utilized. Two six-foot standing banners displayed content messages and infographics in both English and Spanish. Trained bilingual and bicultural staff collected health information survey cards that elicited self-reported demographic information and health concerns. Four aspects of recruitment were evaluated: volume, efficiency, community representation, and primary health concerns. A comparative analysis was conducted in the fall of 2016 to determine the effectiveness of each messaging strategy. 387 survey cards were collected, 221 were from Hispanic men. Obesity, diabetes, and cancer were identified as the most pertinent health concerns. Fear appeal yielded 209 completed surveys, followed by 110 for positive masculinity, and 68 for spousal convergence. Fear appeal/arousal and positive masculinity content messaging were effective approaches to engage Hispanic males in research, preventive and treatment efforts. Findings warrant replication as there is potential for confounding seasonal effects.

Uncovering Historical Legacies to Contextualize Health Inequities in Puerto Rican Men: An Expansion of the Minority Stress Model

“…Historically speaking, Latino men are a difficult group to engage in health-related research (Rhodes et al, 2018 ; Valdez and Garcia, 2021 ). As a result, there is great strength stemming from the opportunity to engage Puerto Rican men in vulnerable and open dialogue about their lived experiences and the roots of their acute and chronic stressors.…”

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Associated Risk Factors in a Community‐Based Sample of Mexican‐Origin Adults

“…Recruitment efforts primarily targeted communitybased settings that had demonstrated success in previous studies. (21)(22)(23)(24) These included the Tucson Tanque Verde Swap Meet (an outdoor marketplace), the Consulate of Mexico in Tucson, churches, and community centers. Further, collaborations with stakeholders, health clinics, and media groups that serve Tucson's Hispanic community allowed for the use of community events and listserves to enhance recruitment efforts.…”

Recruiting Perinatal Fathers to Interventions and Research: A Conceptual Model of Engagement and Integrative Review of Barriers Encountered and Strategies Used

“…Inadequate attention to culturally relevant and responsive activity development and adaptations also represent observed barriers to father recruitment and engagement [59][60][61][62]. Successful activities directly address cultural and gender-based differences, common misconceptions, as well as negative assumptions about fathers (e.g., dads are not interested, fathers prefer to leave parenting to moms, teens dads are not involved, fathers are just stoic or unemotional) [63].…”

“…Two quasiexperimental program evaluations demonstrated that paternal-specific content had a several-fold increase in successful paternal recruitment and engagement, relative to messages generically targeting parents [32,109]. Successful messages were reported to include: a) the father-specific vs. father-included nature of the activity, b) what dads will learn about and do, c) how the activity builds from fathers' existing knowledge and strengths, d) assurances that activities will be conducted well (i.e., culturally informed, ethically delivered, and providers have content expertise) and e) highlights the barrier reduction strategies available and benefits to family functioning and child development from participating [28,30,62,110].…”