Study Identifies Tactics for Reaching and Retaining Low-Income Minority Children for Health Studies

Posting fliers and attending community events are the most successful ways to recruit black and Latino families into health studies, but it is important to use many different strategies—especially those that build trust and relationships—to find participants and keep them involved, according to an AHRQ-funded study in Pilot and Feasibility Studies. Researchers recruited black and Latino children, ages 9 to 12 years, and their parents/guardians from East Harlem and Harlem, N.Y., for the study, which focused on a Web-based tool that teaches children to eat healthful foods. The 89 parent/child teams completed surveys and interviews at the study’s start, midpoint, end and three months after the study’s end. Researchers found that low-income minority individuals will participate in studies that take place over time despite barriers ranging from distrust of research to lack of transportation. Access the abstract.

2019 Sep 5;5:109. doi: 10.1186/s40814-019-0492-8. eCollection 2019.

Key recruitment and retention strategies for a pilot web-based intervention to decrease obesity risk among minority youth.

DeFrank G1,2, Singh S1, Mateo KF1,2, Harrison L1,2, Rosenthal A3, Gorman A4, Leung MM1.

Author information

1: 1Hunter College School of Urban Public Health, City University of New York (CUNY), 2180 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10035 USA.
2: 2CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, 55 W 125th Street, New York, NY 10027 USA.
3: 3Children's Aid, 711 Third Avenue, Suite 700, New York, NY 10017 USA.
4: 4Weill Cornell Medical College, 407 East 61st Street, New York, NY 10065 USA.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Interactive Nutrition Comics for Urban Minority Youth (Intervention INC) is an innovative, web-based interactive comic tool for dietary self-management, which aims to decrease obesity risk among urban minority preadolescents. The feasibility and acceptability of Intervention INC was assessed by implementing a two-group randomized pilot study. To date, intervention studies have typically faced various barriers in recruiting and retaining study participants. The purpose of this paper is to describe recruitment and retention activities from this study and in particular, discuss challenges faced, strategies implemented, and lessons learned.

METHODS:

Black/AA and Latino children (ages 9-12 years) and their parent/guardian were recruited from East Harlem/Harlem, New York. Recruitment strategies included flyering in the community, having a convenient study location, providing participation incentives, and partnering with community/school-based organizations. Potential participants were screened for eligibility; enrollees completed online surveys and interviews at baseline (T1), intervention midpoint (T2), intervention end (T3), and 3-months post-intervention (T4). Retention strategies included flexible scheduling, reminder calls/texts, incremental compensation, and consistent study staff.

RESULTS:

Eighty-nine enrolled dyads completed a T1 visit (August to November 2017) and were randomized to the experimental (E, n = 45) or comparison (C, n = 44) group. Enrolled dyads learned about the study through community events (39%), community flyering (34%), friend/referral (15%), or a community clinic partner (12%). T1 child demographics were mean age = 10.4 ± 1.0 years, 61% female, 62% Black and 42% Latino, and 51% overweight/obese; parent demographics were mean age = 30.8 ± 8.9 years, 94% female, and 55% Black and 45% Latino. Survey completion rates by dyad were high throughout the study: T2, 87%; T3, 89%; and T4, 84%. Average data collection per session was 65 min. Parents at T4 (n = 76) felt they received enough study information (97%) and that their questions were answered properly (80%). Eighty-one percent of children at T4 (n = 75) were very satisfied/extremely satisfied with how study staff communicated and interacted with them.

CONCLUSION:

Effective recruitment strategies consisted of community events and flyering, while a variety of retention strategies were also used to successfully engage urban Black/AA and Latino families in this study. Though our findings are limited to only Latino and Black families in low-income neighborhoods, we have identified successful strategies for this specific high-risk population and potentially similar others.