Black art posters, an incentive to increase study enrollment among Blacks in a large cohort study

Research recruitment: A marketing framework to improve sample representativeness in health research

AIMS

This discussion paper proposes a five-part theoretical framework to inform recruitment strategies. The framework is based on a marketing model of consumer decision-making.

BACKGROUND

Respondents in surveys are typically healthier than non-respondents, which has an impact on the availability of information about those most in need. Previous research has identified response patterns, provided theories about why people participate in research and evaluated different recruitment strategies. Social marketing has been applied successfully to recruitment and promotes focus on the needs of the participant, but little attention has been paid to the periods before and after participant-researcher contact (during advertising and following completion of studies). We propose a new model which conceptualises participation as a decision involving motivation, perception of information, attitude formation, integration of intention and action and finally evaluation and sharing of experience.

DESIGN

Discussion paper.

DATA SOURCES

This discussion paper presents a critical review. No literature was excluded on date and the included citations span the years 1981-2017.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING

The proposed framework suggests that researchers could engage a broader demographic if they shape research design and advertising to perform functions that participants are seeking to achieve. The framework provides a novel and useful conceptualisation of recruitment which could help to inform public engagement in research design, researcher training and research policy.

CONCLUSION

This framework challenges researchers to investigate the goals of the potential participants when designing a study's advertising and procedures.

Recruiting and motivating black subjects to complete a lengthy survey in a large cohort study: an exploration of different strategies

BACKGROUND

The effectiveness of multiple innovative recruitment strategies for enrolling Black/African American participants to the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2) is described. The study's focus is diet and breast, prostate and colon cancer.

METHODS

Promotions centered on trust, relationship building and incentives for increasing enrollment and questionnaire return rate. Of the sub-studies described, one had a randomized control group, and the others, informal controls. The subjects are from all states of the U.S. and some provinces of Canada. The offer of a Black art piece, follow-up calls, a competitive tournament as well as other strategies accounted for nearly 3,000 additional returns even though they were often used in small subsets.

RESULTS

Flexibility and multiple strategies proved advantageous in gaining the cooperation of Blacks, who are usually reluctant to participate in research studies.

CONCLUSIONS

Lessons learned during initial enrollment should help us retain our final Black cohort of 26,000, and obtain new information when required.